Baldur's Gate Siege of Dragonspear Enhanced Edition Novelization
by SilentGuy2011
Summary: Two months have passed since Sarevok's defeat. Ralis Rutela, the hero of Baldur's Gate now faces a new enemy and new challenge. Caelar Argent, a woman with a background shrouded in mystery is starting a crusade far north from Baldur's Gate. What can be done about it? Ralis must confront this crusade leader and learn what is happening behind the curtains of this so-called crusade.
1. Chapter 1 The Cleanup

_**"Fate leads him who follows it, and drags him who resist."**_

 _ **-Plutarch**_

* * *

One week has passed since Sarevok's death. Though he is defeated and his Bhaalspawn half brother Ralis Rutela is proclaimed the hero of Baldur's Gate for his heroic efforts in putting an end to the Iron Crisis, a plot made by the organization that Sarevok worked for called the Iron Throne to get rich by forcing miners and markets to produce and sell tainted brittle iron weapons and tools on the Sword Coast and blaming the nation of Amn as the culprits, nearly starting a war. The Iron Throne had no intention of actually starting a war, they only wanted to stockpile pure iron and sell it on the Sword Coast so that they would appear as heroes and get rich, but Sarevok actually wanted to start a war, believing all the bloodshed he would have caused would help him ascend to become the new Lord of Murder like his father Bhaal before him. However, his half brother Ralis put an end to him and his plans, and even more surprising news followed, Grand Duke Entar Silvershield has been brought back from the dead, but all is not well.

There are still a few minions of Sarevok that have not been caught or killed yet, they are hiding. Ralis and his group, and the Flaming Fist organization and the city watch have been on high alert and on the lookout for Sarevok's surviving minions for the past week since Ralis's victory over his half brother. What is even more disturbing, far north from Baldur's Gate, a crusade is brewing, seizing supplies and forcing civilians into military service in their ranks. This crusade is led by strong warrior, a charismatic human woman named Caelar Argent, also known as the Shining Lady, and her background is a complete mystery. There are many rumors and hearsay about her origins, but nothing is confirmed. But problems must be settled one step at a time. For now, the authorities of Baldur's Gate are focused on finding Sarevok's remaining followers and catching them one way or another.

One night, in the catacombs of the abandoned city miles under Baldur's Gate beneath the city's sewers, Sarevok's surviving minions are taking refuge there, knowing that the city is on high alert, and they have no way of returning to the surface without getting caught by the authorities. In one part of the catacombs, a man in full plate mail armor stood near the edge of a large chasm that leads to the deeper parts of the catacombs. On the other side of the chasm is a broken wooden bridge. The man peered down at the chasm and he suddenly felt lightheaded and stepped back from the edge. There are two ways out of the area he is in, there is a stone door behind him and another one to his left beyond a barrier of wooden stakes.

He took a deep breath, sighed, then turned to face his companion behind him, a woman in full armor wearing a helmet that covered all but her face and has red feathers on top of it. She didn't need to ask what is wrong with him; she knew exactly why he is in a sullen mood. Their boss Sarevok is dead. Without him around, they have no purpose. In the past during the Iron Crisis, they and the other mercenaries that are with them in the catacombs right now were originally going to be part of the death squads that would attempt to hunt down and kill Ralis and his party, but because Ralis and his companions destroyed Tazok's bandit camp and killed Ardenor Crush, the leader of the Chill and Taurgosz Khosann the leader of the Blacktalons and many other important individuals of the bandit raids, Sarevok had no choice but to call off most of his mercenaries from hunting Ralis and his party and salvage their loss by creating a roaming base of operations. She understood why he is in a dull mood, but she couldn't understand why he didn't trust Korlasz, a human woman who is a fairly powerful sorceress who has taken command of Sarevok's surviving minions.

"Sarevok's dead. Everything's a mess. We should have gotten out of this city days ago," the man said to her in depression.

"No chance of that now," the woman said while she slowly approached her friend and placed her right hand on his shoulder.

"But Korlasz knows what she is doing, and-" She stopped speaking when she heard something odd nearby.

She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard the sound of armored boots landing on the stone floor.

"Hey, did you hear that?" She whispered.

She stepped closer to the barrier. Her friend was smart enough not to ask what she heard, but instead listen for it too. After five seconds of silence, they both heard the sound of armored boots landing on the floor in the room behind the door ahead beyond the makeshift barrier. The man and woman realized with out actually seeing it that somehow the Flaming Fists have found the catacombs and are attempting to explore it in search for them, Korlasz and anyone who has pledged allegiance to Sarevok Anchev.

"We'd better tell the boss. Come on," the man said to his friend, then they made their way toward the other stone door, pushing it open, stepping inside, and pushing it closed.

Meanwhile, in the other room, two Flaming Fist mercenaries have just recently dropped into the catacombs by rope, wearing full plate armor with the emblem of a burning red clenched fist engulfed by fire on their breastplates. The two men surveyed the room for a few seconds, then they looked up at the hole in the ceiling.

"All clear," one of them said to whoever is awaiting up above.

Then, almost in a split second, two more Flaming Fist mercenaries dropped down, sliding down on the rope. After they arrived, Ralis came down and landed, coughing because some of the dust flew up his nose. Then he stepped aside, allowing Imoen to come down next, then after her, Minsc, then Dynaheir, Khalid, Jaheira, and last but not least, Safana. The rest of Ralis's group aren't with the catacomb patrol party, everyone else except Viconia and Dorn are patrolling the city or the sewers. Ralis let Viconia cut ties from the group before he returned to Baldur's Gate in the time when he was a wanted man for murdering the leaders of the Iron Crisis, Sarevok's foster father Rieltar Anchev, and Brunos, and Thaldorn. Dorn left the group for personal reasons, knowing that Ralis's fame will cast all of his companions in the spotlight including himself, and the paladins of Baldur's Gate would not be happy to know that Ralis had allied himself with a blackguard.

"Ugh, smells like moldy bones down here," Imoen said in disgust as soon as the tomb's odor flew up her nose.

Minsc took a whiff of the stale air and said: "Bones and EVIL! That is the stench which Minsc sniffs."

Ralis grinned expectantly. "If Minsc smells evil, then we are on the right track, fellas," he commented to everyone.

"We've secured the chamber, hero. We are ready to move when you are," Flaming Fist mercenary #2 said to Ralis.

Ralis nodded in approval. "Good. Scout a few feet up ahead. Safana, go with the scout and disarm any traps that you find. It would be a bad idea for us to blindly stumble into the surprises Sarevok's remaining friends left for us," he instructed.

"Of course, sweetheart," Safana said with a sensual smile at Ralis then deftly moved ahead, checking the stone door for booby traps, then opened the door, stepping out.

"Yes sir," Flaming Fist mercenary #2, a man wearing a helmet that covered his entire face but has a minus shaped slot hole fro his eyes gave Ralis a brief salute then left the chamber following Safana.

Imoen sighed and placed her hands on her waist.

"Well, here we are in a creepy ol' tomb again. The last of Sarevok's followers are down here, according to the Flaming Fist. Do you really think they are down here?" Imoen asked Ralis as they headed for the way out the chamber, Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jaheira following closely behind.

"They got nowhere to go. Unless there is a way they can escape Baldur's Gate underground, they can't go back up to the city and risk getting caught by the city watch or Flaming Fist."

"D-D-Dear, I don't understand. Why are they continuing to fight w-w-w-when Sarevok is dead?" Khalid asked Jaheira when they passed through the open door.

"Because those that possess evil hearts like Sarevok do not know how to repent, Khalid. Their loss will not be a great one," Dynaheir answered for Jaheira.

Jaheira smiled at Dynaheir then turned her attention to Khalid.

"And there is your answer," she said with a dry smile.

"So, all we knew about these remnants of Sarevok's followers is that they are mercenaries and being led by Korlasz, right?" Ralis asked Imoen, then he stopped, noticing the barrier blocking the way, but he and Imoen stood back and let Dynaheir cast the Fireball spell on the barriers of wooden stakes, burning them down to ash.

While this happened, Imoen replied to Ralis's question.

"Yeah, that's right, and this place is her family's tomb. The Grand Dukes want her dead or alive."

Then when the fires died down, the scouts and Safana moved ahead, checking for traps, moving towards the next door, Safana checked it for traps, and when she gave the signal that it is safe, they entered the next room. Ralis took notice at the large chasm and walked close to the edge out of curiosity.

"C-Careful, Ralis, it is a long fall down," Khalid warned him.

Ralis whistled in awe and said "No kidding" while peering down to see if he could see the bottom, but he couldn't because it is pitch black 40 feet down into the chasm.

Just then, when Ralis looked ahead across the chasm, he saw someone standing on the other side, looking at him. The man, who is named Porios appears to be in his early 30's and a mage, wearing gray robes, carrying a quarterstaff in his left hand and has short but smooth black hair.

"You're too late. It's already gone," Porios said to Ralis, his voice echoing everywhere causing the volume of his voice to be amplified a little.

"Gone? What's gone? What are you prattling on about?" Ralis called back.

"Aren't you here for his sword? I thought..." Porios began to say, but got interrupted by Ralis.

"We're here for Korlasz. If she surrenders peacefully I will see to it both of you are treated fairly by the Flaming Fist."

Porios chuckled, and Ralis could almost hear it thanks to the sensitivity of echoes this place has.

"Tymora be with you, then. If you're fool enough to cross Korlasz, you'll need all the luck you can get," Porios said, his voice holding doubt that Ralis and his companions can subdue Korlasz, because she is the sister of Semaj, the most powerful mage in Sarevok's followers, but Ralis, his group and the Flaming Fist don't know that much about her.

* * *

Ralis and his companions entered the next room, where they found a woman standing near a table casually talking to herself and counting the ingredients she has collected on the table. To the left on the far side of the room, the door is already open, Safana and the Flaming Fist mercenary scouts having already passed through this room. Imoen and the others couldn't understand why Safana and the mercenaries ignored this mysteriously conspicuous woman in a tomb full of Sarevok's followers.

"Three drops of lemon balm oil... a half-pinch of powdered silver..." Ralis and the others heard her mutter to herself.

"Uh, who are you?" Ralis asked.

"And what are you doing in a tomb full of traps and dangerous mercenaries?" Jaheira asked.

The woman turned around and noticed Ralis and his group. This woman seems to be in her late 30's, getting fairly close to her early 40's, she his gray eyes, gray hair and gaunt facial features.

"Oh, pardon! I didn't hear you come in. My name is Ammon and I'm conducting an experiment," she said.

Imoen crossed her arms skeptically. "In a tomb filled with dangerous mercenaries. Right. Pull the other leg, lady. What are you up to?" She asked sternly.

Ammon stood up out of her chair and Ralis noticed how almost unnaturally thin she is, as if she hasn't eaten anything in two days.

"Oh, I'm creating an alchemical concoction to reveal magically concealed writings. A mercenary was supposed to guide me further into the tomb to find the component I'm missing... Just now their leader summoned them away, though. She bid me stay here for my own safety. If you happen to come across cobalt moss and bring some to me, I'd be truly grateful," Ammon said.

"Their leader? You mean Korlasz?" Ralis asked.

"I believe that is her name, yes," Ammon nodded.

Jaheira scowled at Ammon sharply while stepping forward.

"You believe? Either you know her or you don't. your presence here grows more and more suspicious," Jaheira said.

Ammon found Jaheira's glare rather unsettling.

"I swear, I have no allegiance to Korlasz! I traded her some rare books in exchange for access to this tomb, that's all. But it's too dangerous for me to venture on alone," Ammon pleaded.

Ralis had a feeling that this woman is being honest, and decided to step in before Jaheira does something drastic.

"I believe you. If we find some cobalt moss while hunting for Korlasz, we will bring some to you," Ralsi promised.

"Thank you," Ammon smiled in relief.

Ralis and his group moved to the next room, catching up with Safana and the Flaming Fist mercenaries who are crouching behind a large stone coffin.

Safana looked back spotting Ralis and his group then she whispered: "What took you so long?"

"Why are you whispering?" Imoen whispered back.

"Shh," the Flaming Fist mercenary woman shushed them and pointed ahead at the only bridge that takes them across the chasm to the other side of the catacombs, and near the door where Ralis saw Porios retreat into, is guarded by five of Sarevok's former mercenaries, four humans and one ogre.

"Have they noticed us?" Imoen asked.

"They keep staring into this direction, almost as if they are expecting us," Flaming Fist mercenary #1 said.

Ralis drew Kondar and Albruin out.

"They _are_ expecting us," he confirmed.

"Butt kicking time!" Minsc declared and Boo squeaked enthusiastically, following Ralis across the bridge and engaging Sarevok's followers in an epic sword battle.

"To the death!" One of the former Iron Throne soldiers exclaimed.

Khalid, Jaheira and the Flaming Fist mercenaries followed and joined the battle, outnumbering and overpowering the four humans and ogre.

Meanwhile on the other side of the door, Porios and his bodyguards, two human men, a male ogrillion and dwarf man could hear the sounds of yelling, swords clashing and the sound of body armor and flesh getting slashed apart by swords, feeling very anxious, knowing that Ralis and the Hero of Baldur's Gate and the Flaming fist are winning the fight. Indeed, Porios is terrified at the thought of being slain by the man who singlehandedly killed his master. He has been a loyal man to Sarevok because he has been paid a hefty amount of gold and silver, but he couldn't help wondering if he should renounce his ties to the deceased man. Besides, its not like Sarevok is going to come out of the land of the dead and skin him alive for insubordination.

Soon everything fell quiet on the other side of the door. Porios and his bodyguards held their breath, clutching their weapons and staring at the stone door, waiting for Ralis and the others to burst through. After nine seconds of silence, Minsc kicked open the stone door, causing it to fly open so rapidly it caused Porios and his bodyguards to flinch and cry out in surprise. Then Ralis, Imoen, Safana and two Flaming Fist mercenaries stepped in with their longbows or shortbows ready to fire while those who carry only melee weapons stood behind them.

"Back away, Ralis. Back away and you might survive this," Porios warned him.

Ralis could see that Porios is trying to be brave and menacing, but deep down he is scared of the idea of being slain by the Hero of Baldur's Gate.

"You know, that's what the last fellow said... Well, he WOULD have said it if I hadn't killed him first," Ralis said, mixing humor in with his threat just for kicks.

 _Ah, forget it,_ Porios decided to come clean rather than put up a fight.

"Sarevok paid us well for our service, but he is dead now and I'm in no rush to join him. Everyone, lay down your arms," Porios ordered.

His bodyguards did as they were told, dropping their morningstars, swords and maces.

"Hey, I recognize you," Ralis said to Porios. "I saw you earlier, yelling at me across the chasm. You mentioned a sword you thought I was looking for. What sword?"

"Sarevok's sword," Porios replied. "We stole the blade from the Ducal Palace but you killed the man- I thought you might claim it as your own."

Ralis remembered that sword. During his battle against Sarevok he broke it in half with enhanced strength from the blood of Bhaal that flows through his veins before delivering the final blow that ended Sarevok's life. What do his mercenaries want with a broken sword?

"Why did you steal the sword?" Ralis asked, lowering his Dead Shot +2 longbow a little from aiming it at Porios even though he is not armed anymore, but kept in mind that he is a mage and can cast Magic Missile any time he wants.

"Everyone steals for a reason. Even if it's just the thrill," Safana said to Ralis.

"Korlasz ordered us to. She had a buyer who offered her a ton of money for it. Enough to smuggle us all out of the city, that's all I know," Porios said.

"Very well. Lead us to Korlasz, and no funny business, okay?" Ralis replied.

"Are you serious?" Porios raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"I'm always serious... But I've been known to joke around a bit every now and then," Ralis replied.

"...Okay. I just hope that you're able to subdue her, because if she kills you, she'll kill me for leading you to her," Porios said with a depressed sigh.

"Have faith," Ralis said, then signaled Porios and his bodyguards to get moving.

Porios and his bodyguards led Ralis, his party and the small group of Flaming Fist mercenaries to another door, the one that is closer to the bridge. Imoen is looking down at the catacomb's chasm.

"This chasm sure looks deep. Do you feel warm air coming up from below? I do," Imoen commented.

"I don't know what's down there, but I think we'll find out sooner or later," Ralis said.

Porios and his bodyguards led Ralis, his party and the Flaming Fist mercenaries to the other door, leading into a room with just one coffin, and a broken wall. They steadily walked through the broken wall and headed towards a cavern hole with winding stairways going down two miles to the deepest areas of the catacombs. Imoen had to use a cantrip spell called Light, using a quarterstaff to cast the spell on turning it into a source of light to light the way.

"I see you mastered that cantrip finally," Ralis noted to Imoen.

"Yeah. It's strange having these new arcane powers. Back in Candlekeep, I never dreamed I might be a spellslinger like Gorion some day. Grand Duchess Jannath has been working diligently with me to perfect my spellcasting abilities," Imoen admitted.

Recently Imoen had become interested in dual classing, not just specializing in thieving, but also in casting spells, and she learned that she had a knack for it, so Grand Duchess Liia Jannath has taken Imoen under her wing to teach her how to cast magic. Ralis suggested asking Dynaheir to be Imoen's mentor once, but Dynaheir declined, saying that once the last of Sarevok's followers are caught, she and Minsc will stay in Baldur's Gate for a few days to make steady preparations for the very long trip east back to Rashemen. Though Imoen is with Ralis and half of his party and a squad of Flaming Fist soldiers and a cleric, she is not here to aid them in combat, she is here to find magical scrolls or anything interesting to return to the Ducal Palace.

"You still got a ways to go, but I can't imagine you being both a thief and a mage," Ralis said.

"Hey, to help you out on your journeys, I need to expand my abilities," she said with a proud smile. "Besides, you should expand your abilities too, you should handle spells as often as you handle those swords," she said.

"Nah, spellcasting isn't for me. I tried it a few years ago but it never worked out. Using swords, bows and arrows fit me just fine," Ralis said.

Imoen shrugged. "All right, if you say so."

"Hey, feel that warm air?" Ralis suddenly asked Imoen.

After a brief pause, she replied: "Yeah."

"We must be going to find out what is down that chasm after all," Ralis replied.

As it turns out, the catacombs are bigger than anyone anticipated. And full of undead creatures. If Korlasz and the others are down here, they would have had to fight the undead too. Or, the undead could be used as Korlasz's guardians. But regardless of the opposition, Ralis, his party and the squad of Flaming Fist mercenaries made their way through the catacombs. In one area, they found four lit braziers. Imoen suspected the flames in each brazier to be magical instead of natural fires. One glowed with red flames, the other brazier had purple flames, the third had yellow flames, and the last brazier down the hallway which is hanging from under a small arch had no colored flames, but a glowing green globe. Ralis and Imoen reached at the globe and found it to be made of glass, and very fragile.

Standing back, Imoen shattered the glass by shooting an arrow at it only to release two gelatin monsters. After defeating the gelatin creatures, Ralis found a burned out torch at the end of the hallway next to two lit torches with red and yellow flames, only to be attacked by four shadow monsters. After they were defeated, Ralis decided to take the burned out torch and use it on one of the magical flames to see what would happen. Since there the burned out torch apparently used to be a lit torch with purple flame, he approached the brazier with purple flames, lit the torch with it, then walked down the hallway with it and placed the lit torch back into the bracket where he found it, then everyone heard a clanking, whirring noise, then they discovered that placing the newly lit torch opened a secret passage behind the lit torches!

They found a secret room with books and a desk where someone did private research. They found a note on the desk and read it. It is a note written by Sarevok himself, but he did not give a time frame of when he wrote this note.

 _"My research into the Lord of Murder has begun to bear its tainted fruit. The dreams come every night now, dreams of floods and eruptions, earthquakes and devastation. I descend deeper into the dreams each time, combining clues from their chaff. I'll use what they teach me to bring a living nightmare to this land._

 _I've learned all I can in the city. While my plans for the Iron Throne gain traction, I go to visit a temple of Bhaal overtaken by the faithful of he who murdered my father- leaving the way clear for ME to take his place. There I shall find out more regarding my dark heritage and the prophecy. If I have time, I shall also look into a hidden room rumored to have been constructed by Mask. The Lord of Shadows is cunning. The marks he has left behind number 3, 1, and 4."_

"Seems like Sarevok has been busy digging deep into his heritage," a Flaming Fist soldeir commented after Ralis finished reading the note.

He couldn't help nodding at the soldier in agreement. "Yes," was all he replied.

They continued through the catacombs with Porios and his bodyguards in tow until they found a room where there is a rope hanging on the edge of the chasm 64 feet above, which means if anyone wanted, they could go back the way they came instead of retracing their steps. Up ahead they found a very large door. It is so big it is impossible to move by hand. Even Minsc would be unable to do it.

"Wow, look at the size of that door! There must be a lever or something to open it." Imoen commented.

"There is," Porios said. "And I know where to find it," he added.

"It is likely that Korlasz is behind that big door," a Flaming Fist mercenary said.

"Hey, look at this!" Imoen exclaimed, pointing down at the ground near her feet.

"L-l-look at what?" Khalid asked curiously, walking over to Imoen and Talis out of curiosity.

"These symbols on the ground. I recognize one of them," Imoen said, pointing at the symbol of a grinning skull inside a triangle.

"The symbol on the ground is the dead god Myrkul's. He was god of the dead- makes sense Korlasz's ancestors would have his mark here," Imoen said.

"And these other two symbols," Jaheira interjected. "That symbol is Bane's symbol, known as the god of darkness, and this one is Bhaal's symbol, the god of murder."

"Wait. Korlasz's ancestors worshiped all three gods as one?" A Flaming Fist mercenary asked, getting curious.

"Yeah, From what I learned back in Candlekeep during my childhood, Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul were once known as The Dead Three. Long ago, they were once mortal men, strong adventurers who sought out ways to achieve godhood. They met Jergal, a god once known as the Lord of the End of Everything, and Bhaal, Bane and Myrkul somehow convinced Jergal to split his divine power into three halves. Bane volunteered to be the god of tyranny and strife, Bhaal volunteered to be the god of murder, and Myrkul chose to be god of the dead."

"But why are they known as The Dead Three?" The curious mercenary asked Ralis.

"Because all three of them perished during the Time of Troubles ten years ago when they were forced to become mortal men," Porios interjected, then all eyes focused on him.

"Bane was killed in a fight with Torm, Myrkul was killed by a mortal woman named Midnight, and Bhaal was slain by Cyric, who also used to be a mortal man. That is why they are called The Dead Three," he announced.

"Ralis, dear, do you have a plan on what we should do once we open this door?" Safana asked.

Ralis replied with a smug smile.

* * *

Meanwhile the two mercenaries that rushed off to inform Korlasz that the Hero of Baldur's Gate and the Flaming Fist are coming finally reached Korlasz's chambers, which is in a large chamber behind large double doors that can only be opened by a mechanism of some kind. At the back of the chamber is a large alter holding a bright ultraviolet crystal that fills the room with an eerie violet light. The two mercenaries entered the chamber, climbing up the stairs towards Korlasz standing in between two pillars flanked by her six bodyguards. Korlasz herself is both a comely and intimidating human woman in her early 30's, the type of woman who make men respect her power and beauty out of admiration or fear instead of lust. She is 5'9" feet tall with short red hair (her hair is not entirely red, there are streaks of black near the scalp of her head), she has piercing bright emerald eyes, she wears a nose piercing ring on her right nostril, and she wears navy blue colored mage robes that is purple colored around the neckline outline of her robes, and she carries a special kind of quarterstaff called "Staff of Striking" which is a bit more powerful than an average quarterstaff. As for her heritage, her mother was a mage, and her father was a priest of Bhaal. After Bhaal died, Korlasz turned to worship his former ally Loviatar (pronounced "Loh-vee-a-tar"), the goddess of pain and agony who is known to be a coldhearted, despotic bully. However, Korlasz only worships Bhaal's former ally in the interim, her true goal is to help restore Bhaal to life.

"Korlasz, we come with bad news," The mercenary woman said.

Korlasz scowled at her for a few seconds and said: "They are coming, are they?"

"Yes. Yes they are. What are we going to do? We can't fight them, we will die, just like Sarevok. We-" The mercenary man started to say but Korlasz interrupted him.

"Silence!" Korlasz snapped.

Everyone fell silent.

"We will not end like Sarevok. We will persevere! We will not falter in the face of adversity! We had a destiny, and it was stolen by one man. A man who ruined everything Sarevok promised to us all!" Korlasz exclaimed angrily.

Everyone knew that she constantly fed her hatred for Ralis every day. They knew that she is a devout follower of Sarevok and with him dead and his plans ruined, she has no intention of giving up her plans for revenge on the Hero of Baldur's Gate. Either she escaped Baldur's Gate to get revenge on Ralis another day, or be caught in a corner and forced to fight him, it really doesn't matter to her, and they knew it. They also knew that she is a powerful mage, knowing many useful spells from level 1 to level 6.

"So we stand and fight?" The mercenary woman asked Korlasz.

Korlasz nodded slowly. "We have nowhere to run, so we must stand and fight... or die trying."

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard Porios shouting for help, and soon they heard his running footsteps and saw him run into the chamber, his robes torn and tattered.

"What happened, Porios?" Korlasz asked curiously.

Porios tried to catch his breath before speaking.

"Korlasz... it's terrible. Ralis and his party... they... they murdered everyone!" Porios exclaimed forlornly.

There were gasps and murmurs in the room, and Korlasz gnashed her teeth in anger.

Before Porios could say anything else, he fell unconscious, then Ralis suddenly appeared behind him magically, and Korlasz realized that Ralis must have somehow snuck up behind Porios while under the effect of an invisibility spell and knocked him out. Then Dynaheir appeared behind Ralis to his left, then the rest of his party appeared out of thin air. Korlasz realized that one of his party members must have casted an Invisibility spell that makes the user's party members all invisible as long as they stay within a ten feet radius of the caster.

"Well well, Korlasz, we meet at last," Ralis said to her.

Korlasz growled in anger like an angry dire wolf, clenching her fists so hard they trembled. "Damn you, Ralis! Damn you and all you defend!"

"It's over, Korlasz. Surrender yourself and your troops, and dismiss your undead servants," Ralis ordered.

"Everything was going to be different. Sarevok was going to change the world. I gave everything to his cause and YOU destroyed it all," Korlasz snarled.

"Change the world? What lie has that bastard been feeding you all? He was going to cause murder on a mass scale so he could ascend! How can you benefit from a changed world like that?" Ralis said.

"SHUT UP!" Korlasz snapped, then she fired two magic missiles, hitting Ralis in the chest and knocking him down off his feet, creating a black scorch mark on the breastplate of his ankheg hide body armor.

"Attack!" Jaheira shouted.

Korlasz immediately casted the spell Mirror Image, creating five illusory images of herself, then ordered five of her fellow former Iron Throne mercenaries and three of her skeletal warriors to attack Ralis's party.

"Forthwith!" Dynaheir exclaimed.

Khalid, Minsc, Ralis, Jaheira and three Flaming Fist mercenaries charged up the stairs and engaged Korlasz's followers in battle. Ralis clashed swords with with one of the undead warriors, while Minsc easily overpowered the other one, severing its skull from its body with his heavy broadsword. Dynaheir, Safana and Imoen stayed behind, firing arrows and casting protection spells on their allies. After casting the Bless spell on the Flaming Fist mercenaries however, Dynaheir notice that Korlasz who is keeping a fair distance from the battle is casting protection spells on herself like Protection from Fire and Minor Globe of Invulnerability, sacrificing some of her allies for time to make herself nearly unstoppable.

"By the Three! She's using her mercenaries to buy time to buff herself with protection spells!" Dynaheir exclaimed to Safana when she saw Korlasz shielded inside a bright blue sphere of magical energy.

"This is bad! We should focus on her!" Imoen said then fired an arrow at Korlasz, but the arrow only managed to hit one of her mirror images, not her true self.

Dynaheir knew that it will take magic spells higher than Level 3 to break Korlasz's shield, or if Ralis and the others take notice, focus on her and wear her shield down with their weapons.

After Khalid struck down one mercenary, he suddenly noticed a small spider crawling towards his arm from the blade of his sword. Then he saw more small spiders crawling on him, causing him to freak out and run around the room shouting "Help! Help!"

"Khalid! What's happening?! Oof!" Jaheira exclaimed to Khalid while she is bracing her scimitar against the sword of the woman who first noticed the Flaming Fist entered the catacombs in the upper levels, and Jaheira letting herself get distracted by Khalid being the victim of Korlasz's Spook spell got kicked in the chest by the woman and she staggered back, and the woman came at Jaheira raising her sword high ready to slice Jaheira's head in half, but one of Safana's throwing knives pierced the woman's neck, causing her to collapse on the floor gagging.

Two more mercenaries were felled by the Flaming Fist mercenaries, however, Korlasz casted Glitterdust on them while Imoen and Safana were firing arrows at her, either missing their mark or only hitting her illusory images, and Dynaheir stood with them trying to recall what Level 5 or 6 spell she had recently memorized that would help them in this situation. As a result of being hit by the Glitterdust spell, both Flaming Fist mercenaries were blinded, then Korlasz casted the Stoneskin spell on herself, and just in time because one of Safana's arrows hit her on the shoulder, but bounced off of her as if her skin is actually made of stone, then she turned her attention to Ralis who is helping Minsc fight two of her undead warriors, and prepared to cast the Lightning Bolt spell on him.

After Ralis and Minsc defeated the last two of Korlasz's undead warriors, Ralis suddenly felt all his muscles twitch and contort painfully from being electrocuted!

"AAARRGHH!" He screamed in agony.

"Ralis! What's wrong!?" Minsc exclaimed, then turned around to see that Korlasz, who is standing 19 feet away from them is the cause.

"Evil witch! You shall feel the righteous sting of Minsc's boots!" Minsc exclaimed then charged at Korlasz yelling.

Jaheira is charging at Korlasz at the same time too, and Korlasz knew that she could only cast Hold Person on one person, so she chose to cast the spell on Minsc, freezing him in place, then she prepared Staff of Striking to parry Jaheira's scimitar. Putting Korlasz on the defensive, Jaheira furiously swung her sword in all directions at Korlasz, forcing her to parry with her staff horizontally, vertically and diagonally. However, there were moments when Jaheira managed to breach Korlasz's defenses and strike her with her sword, but the blade only made a few slash marks on Korlasz' robes, not on her hardened skin.

Ralis, still wounded from the lightning bolt spell noticed that all of Korlasz's followers except unconscious Porios and his bodyguards are dead, and Korlasz herself is the only one that it putting up hard resistance. If only there were some way to bring down her protection spells. At that moment, Dynaheir finally remembered the perfect spells that can help them in this situation! Dispel Magic and Breach! First, she casted Dispel Magic on Korlasz, bringing down her Protection from Fire and Minor Globe of Invulnerability.

"What...?!" Korlasz gasped in surprise, and Jaheira took advantage of her shock and kicked her in the face, causing her to stagger back.

Ralis noticed Khalid still running around the room panicking and the Flaming Fist mercenaries complaining about their blind state, and at that same time, Dynaheir casted the Breach spell on Korlasz, dispelling her Stoneskin spell. Now Korlasz is completely defenseless, and one shot in the chest by Imoen or Safana's arrows will bring her down, and Jaheira can now end her life if she wished. Korlasz is down on her knees, confused at how her protection spells were so suddenly dispelled, and when she looked up, she saw Ralis, Minsc, Jaheira, Safana, Imoen and the Flaming Fist mercenaries who were recently cured from their blindness by their cleric stood over her.

"Don't make my hamster angry, witch, I warn you," Minsc sternly warned Korlasz, and she thought she was going nuts, but she swore that she thought she saw and heard Boo hiss at her like an angry cat.

Korlasz lowered her head in shame.

"I... am defeated. As Sarevok was. He was going to change the Sword Coast forever, and I was going to be part of it," she said sadly. "Now all that is left is dust and ruin. I surrender."

"First, drop your staff, scrolls and all your items and go. The Flaming Fist will escort you to your new quarters," Ralis instructed.

Korlasz shrugged indifferently then dropped her Staff of Striking, pulled out five scrolls she kept in the pockets of her robes and lay them out in front of her on the cold stone floor. "So be it. Rot in a cell or rot in a crypt, it makes little enough difference."

At that moment Khalid finally recovered from being panicked under the effect of Korlasz's Spook spell, which is similar to the Horror spell but instead of striking the victim with irrational fear, Spook plays on the natural fears of the person it affects, which was why Khalid thought there were dozens of small spiders crawling all over his body. But now that the spell wore off, he finally calmed down and rejoined everyone, noticing that they have already subdued Korlasz.

"F-forgive me. In the heat of the m-moment, I lost myself. It won't happen again, I p-promise," Khalid apologized to everyone, unaware that he was under the effect of Korlasz's magic.

"Think nothing of it, Khalid. you fought bravely," Imoen said.

"I-I did?" Khalid asked.

"Yes, you did. And now that this is all over, we are going to spend some... quality time together," Jaheira winked at him.

That apparently cheered up Khalid a little. "That... sounds wonderful," he said.

"Sounds like the group will break up soon," Ralis said, feeling sad knowing that most of his allies will be going their separate ways soon... Except Imoen, of course.

Minsc walked over to Ralis and gave him a pat on the back.

"The friendship of Minsc and Boo travels with you wherever you go, Ralis," he assured his friend.

Ralis looked up at Minsc, up at the warm, comforting smile.

"You cannot see it, but it is always there. And sometimes smells of lemons," Minsc added.

Ralis chuckled, then reminded himself to order the mercenaries to take away Korlasz.

"Take her away," He instructed the Flaming Fist mercenaries.

"Yes sir," they said in unison then helped Korlasz stand up on her feet and escorted her away, and Misnc followed them, carrying Porios's unconscious body with him.

Ralis noticed something near the base of the pillar behind where Korlasz was kneeling. He saw something blue. A blue moss. He walked over to it, tore the moss out of the patch it was growing on and examined it. Then he followed everyone out of the chamber. Before he passed through the big open doors, something of interest caught his eye. A door to the left, nearly unnoticeable unless examined thoroughly. Instead of following his friends, Ralis headed for the door and opened it, stepping inside Korlasz's persona quarters.

It is a small rectangular room. Not spacious, but big enough to contain a bed instead of a bedroll unlike her followers, a couch, a dressing room divider with flower motifs on it so Korlasz can change her clothes in privacy if one of her followers walks into her room by accident with an urgent message to relay, and a shelf full of dusty old books behind her bed. On the table near her bed, Ralis saw two things that caught his interest, a book which might be Korlasz's journal, and a box containing many scrolls of paper.

Ralis opened the journal and read only the relevant parts.

" _S. and I had a long talk last night. Everything he says makes so much sense. I offered him my family crypt to use as a safehouse, and he accepted. The old motifs to the Dead Three seem particularly appropriate now. I often meditate by the symbol of Bhaal and think on his teachings, and how his influence is returning to the land._

 _..._

 _Today, S. mentioned that his plans are progressing quickly. He'll be gone for a week or two conducting research in an old tomb somewhere near Bridgefort. I lack his leadership capabilities, but I should be able to manage the followers while he's gone._

 _..._

 _Last night, S. told me the groundwork has been laid for the next phase of his plan. He's moving into new quarters in the Iron Throne. I'll miss our talk, but I'm glad he's gaining the recognition he deserves. He'll change the face of the Sword Coast when he claims his birthright. All will know the power of Bhaal through him._

 _..._

 _Received_ _word that S. has been killed. I can scarcely believe it. I didn't think anyone could bring about his end. I don't know what to do next. For now, I'll keep the followers safe and stay away from the Flaming Fist._

 _..._

 _The crusade's made it impossible to leave the city. There are guards at every gate thanks to the refugees flooding in. A hooded figure contacted me yesterday and offered a large sum of money if I could steal Sarevok's sword and deliver it to his agents in Athkatla. The money could be enough to bribe our way out of the city. I agreed. I had little choice._

 _..._

 _With the help of my allies, we've stolen Sarevok's sword from the Ducal Palace. I wish I could keep it myself, but its sale will fund the safe escape of me and the others. Must be careful in how we store the blade for its trip to Waukeen's Promenade in Athkatla. Apparently, it's no good if the blood's wiped off._ "

Then Ralis closed the journal and quickly checked the box filled with collections of arcane tomes, history books, and religious texts focusing on necromancy and Bhaal's religion and prophecy. There is a lot to read. Too much to read here, so Ralis took Korlasz's journal and her collection of research of Bhaal. He found the rope and climbed it up back to the chasm to catch up with everyone.

* * *

Ralis returned to where he met Ammon, finding her still walking around the room aimlessly, waiting for his return.

"Hello again," she said as soon as she spotted him and his companions come back.

Ralis headed towards her while his party and the Flaming Fist mercenaries escorted Korlasz, Porios and his bodyguards out the room.

"I found the cobalt moss you are looking for," he said and handed it to her.

"That's it, yes! The potion is ready!" Ammon exclaimed happily as soon as Ralis placed the moss in the palm of her cupped hands.

"I'm curious, though. What exactly are you going to use this potion for?" Ralis asked.

Ammon shrugged. "I suppose you will do no harm. I want to apply the potion to a rare tome hidden away in Candlekeep!"

Ralis flinched in surprise. "You seek entry into my childhood home?" He asked.

Now it is Ammon who is curious. "You were raisedi n Candlekeep, you say? Tell me more."

Ralis shrugged. "I had a quiet, peaceful childhood there. I learned a great deal about the world we live in and I always felt safe."

"And did the monks there raise you?" Ammon asked.

"Not really, my mentor Gorion did that. I had other friends, Parda, Karan, but he was the closest I ever had to a family. Sarevok Anchev killed him."

"You've never been back?" Ammon asked.

"Once, a week ago, I think that's how long it has been. It was... unpleasant. I made my peace there and haven't returned since," Ralis replied.

Ammon rubbed her chin in thought. "Very dramatic, yes. Erm, I could use some advice. I wish to visit Candlekeep and view a Netherese tome- there are secret writings upon its pages my potion will reveal. But I lack a book of great value with which to gain entry. It seems to me that enhancing an existing volume by revealing hidden text is almost like giving them a book, yes? Do you think such an argument would carry water the gatekeepers?"

"I doubt it will work, but you can try," Ralis shrugged.

"I know my chances are slim," Ammon nodded. "but a letter from you endorsing my offer might help. As it happens, I've a draft of such a letter here," Ammon showed Ralis a piece of scroll paper. "I was hoping Grand Duchess Jannath might sign it, but a son of Candlekeep might have greater influence."

Ralis had doubts about this. He hesitated for a while, but he ignored his doubts and signed his name on the paper.

"I'll be honest, I'm not entirely comfortable with this..." He said.

"The letter makes no claims on your behalf. Your reputation won't be in danger of any harm- it simply explains the situation. Won't you help me?"

"All right. I'll sign your letter. Here you go," He handed the letter back to her.

"Oh, thank you, thank you! I'll leave for Candlekeep at once. Here, take this as a small token of my appreciation." Ammon gave Ralis two emerald jewels and left.

Ralis followed her back to the room where the rope is and found Imoen waiting for him, watching Ammon climb up the rope.

"I guess this is it. We've done what we came to do. Time to head back to the palace for a well-earned rest, don't you think?" Imoen asked Ralis.

Ralis nodded and handed Imoen the box containing Korlasz's research into Bhaal.

"Duchess Jannath sent you here seeking magical papers or books, did she not? I found these in Korlasz's room."

Imoen smiled, holding the box. "This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. thanks. I'll tell Duchess Jannath you found these when we get back to the palace."

Imoen threw the box up to the hole in the ceiling and a Flaming Fist enforcer caught it, then Imoen climbed up the rope first, then Ralis followed, then they followed everyone down a narrow tunnel back to the surface.

"So, that's it. We did it. Sarevok's minions are no more," Ralis sighed in relief.

"Yes. It's over, Ralis. It's finally over," Imoen said, grinning. "Sarevok's allies are all dead or awaiting the noose. What will you do now?" She asked.

"First, I'm going to sleep for a week. Then another week. Then a month. After that, I'll probably have a nap," Ralis joked, though Imoen didn't know he is joking at first, but she caught on.

"I'm glad you're all right, Ralis. I worry about you," Imoen said.

"Heh. I'm glad I'm all right, too. I also worry about me," Ralis said, joking once again, and Imoen couldn't help wondering if Ralis is sane most of the time.

"Can't you take anything seriously?" She asked.

"Why on Toril would I want to?" Ralis asked her.

Imoen rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I talk to you sometimes. I really don't."

* * *

Finally it is over. The last of Sarevok's followers have been killed or now in prison awaiting the day they meet their end on a noose. One week later after the night of Korlasz's arrest, the day of the celebration of Ralis Rutela's victory over Sarevok and his followers has come. The party is being held in The Wide, at highsun, and the city is buzzing with excitement.

Inside Entar Silvershield's room at the Ducal Palace, Entar Silvershield himself is standing outside his window, daydreaming about what events has passed and what might happen in the near future. He is a middle aged man with a very strong Luskan accent in his voice, his black hair, beard and mustache is steadily turning gray with age even though he is only around his late 30's, and he is the most respected Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate. He was killed during the Iron Crisis by two of Sarevok's best assassins, Slythe and Krystin, but recently after Sarevok's death, a cleric of Helm named Fenster brought Entar back from the dead, which is possible for some clerics to do, but not easily, and bringing someone back from the dead is not always possible, otherwise Scar would have been resurrected too. After his resurrection, Entar had been brought up to speed about the recent happenings since his death. He was told about Sarevok and his plot with the Iron Throne, how he had almost duped the authorities of Baldur's Gate into electing him as Grand Duke until Ralis revealed everything and stopped him. Entar is relieved to know that a hero happened along, killed his killers and stopped the man responsible for the iron crisis, but now, today, he couldn't shake this feeling that another incident is waiting to happen. He still stood near the window, looking down at the streets below and he sighed. At that moment he heard someone knocking on his door.

"Come in," he said.

He heard the door creak open and footsteps approaching him. The person who entered his room is none other than Schael Corwin, the new captain of the Flaming Fist replacing the late Hurbold Duethkatha, also known as Scar. Schael is a tall, lean but strong woman close to being 36 years old with very short cropped black hair and brown eyes, a healed scar on her right cheek and upon first glance, because of her physically fit appearance, and hairstyle, she appears to be more like a man than a woman until you hear her voice, though.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Schael asked Entar.

Entar never bothered to turn around to face her, he kept looking out at the window, but he acknowledged her presence.

"Yes, I did. I would like to speak to you in private, Captain."

Schael closed the door shut so no one passing by will overhear their conversation.

"What about?" She asked.

There was a pregnant pause between them for a while, then Entar said:

"There is a lot on my mind lately. I am unsure if it is because I am growing old, or if it is because I have returned from stepping through death's door."

"The city is lucky to have you back, sir. Many mourned your death when we lost you weeks ago, especially your wife and daughter," Schael commented.

Entar nodded. "I know, I know. But I have to tell you, this kind of experience changes your perspective on life. I may have returned, but one day I will be permanently gone, by natural causes instead of a sword or dagger, and no amount clerical healing spell will be enough to bring me back."

Schael raised an eyebrow curiously. "What are you saying, sir?"

"I am saying that we need to focus on the future, not stay complacent in the present. We need to consider who will replace me as Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate. Do you understand where I am going with this, Captain Corwin?"

Schael didn't reply immediately, she ran all possibilities in her mind. If Entar passes away from old age, who will replace him? His daughter, Skie Silvershield is one possible option, but Schael could not see Skie as Grand Duchess of Baldur's Gate.

"Your daughter...?" Schael guessed aloud with hesitation.

Entar nodded. "I regretfully admit that it is time that she take her future seriously. Unfortunately, ever since she was a child, I spoiled her too much. I fear she will greatly dislike the thought of being a Grand Duchess. She is a rebellious spirit, I know that all too well because she always tries to sneak off to be with that pompous, sweet-talking cur Eldoth," he said through gritted teeth.

"She is an adult now, sir, she will eventually figure out what she must do. But this is not the reason you summoned me here, is it?" Schael asked.

"No, it isn't. I called you here to talk to you about the Hero of Baldur's Gate," Entar replied, still looking out the window.

"Ralis Rutela," Schael said.

"Yes. for the past few days I constantly hear rumors and conjecture about our beloved hero," Entar said while Schael walked up beside him to his left, staring out the window with him, looking down at the parade happening on the streets.

"What kind of rumors?" Schael looked at Entar's sullen face.

"There are rumors on the streets that say that Ralis might possibly be a child of Bhaal like Sarevok."

Schael frowned. "What? I don't believe that, that is impossible."

"We can't turn down any possibilities at face value here, Captain, we need to think outside the barrier of our beliefs. We need to be flexible and careful of whom we trust if we are to survive," Entar said.

"Yes, sir," Schael nodded.

There was another pregnant pause between them. Then Schael said:

"Do you really believe the rumors are true? Do you really think our hero is a child of Bhaal like Sarevok?"

"I am not one to jump to conclusions, Captain. I merely weigh the possibilities before I make a decision."

"But he saved the city. He stopped us from needlessly going to war against Amn. And with Caelar Argent's crusades happening in the northern regions, we may need his help once again soon," Schael said.

"Your concerns are noted, Captain Corwin. But for now, we must watch with caution," Entar replied, then he and Schael lapsed into silence again looking out the window down at the parade.

Meanwhile outside the palace, hundreds of people lined the sidewalks cheering happily as they watched the stagecoach being pulled by four white horses carrying Ralis and his party towards The Wide. Ralis sat on the lancer seats with two of his lancers, waving at the cheering crowds of people on both sides of the road. Some people among the crowds shouted out:

"You're the best, Ralis!"

"You're a true hero! Thank you!"

"I'll name my son after you!"

Hundreds of Flaming Fist mercenaries and Baldur's Gate Watch guards lined the road to make sure no one in the crowds of cheering people would jump out and try to assassinate the Hero of Baldur's Gate or anything else bold. Ralis enjoyed these moments greatly- he has never been through this type of thing before, he only dreamed of a moment like this during his childhood in Candlekeep, defeating the malevolent villain who threatened the city with his ambitions and in retrun beling loved and respected by the citizens of that city... It's all a reality now.

"You know what, Bruce?" Ralis raised his voice to one of his lancers among the deafening cheers of the crowds.

"What is it, sir?" Bruce shouted back to Ralis.

"This is my first time being in a parade!" Ralis responded with an excited smile.

Bruce made a wide grin of excitement on his face. "The feeling's mutual, sir! I know exactly how you feel!"

The stagecoach and the Flaming Fist mercenaries and watch guards made their way slowly to The Wide, an open space in the city of Baldur's Gate where festivals are usually held. In the center of the wide stood a pedestal where it is scheduled the hero of Baldur's Gate will make a speech to the citizens of Baldur's Gate. Ralis is amazed at how many people have gathered in the Wide. What amazed him even more is that as the stagecoach made its way to the center, the people parted away like the ripples of the ocean. When the stagecoach neared the spot where Ralis will make his speech, the stagecoach stopped, then the lancers allowed Ralis to jump down off the stagecoach, and Minsc, Coran and Rasaad emerged from the stagecoach acting as Ralis's bodyguards, escorting him to the center of the Wide while Flaming Fist mercenaries and the watch controlled the excitedly cheering crowds.

"We have made our mark in the legends of great heroes! Through camaraderie, courage and goodness, we have prevailed over evil, Boo!" Minsc exclaimed proudly, and Boo squeaked happily in response.

"I have to admit, this really does feel good. We've been through a rough adventure, and we deserve this, and more," Coran said to Minsc.

"I am not used to being around so many people. It makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable," Rasaad said.

At that moment, they reached the center of The Wide and Ralis walked up the stairs to the platform elevating himself high enough to see all around him, and it amazed him again to see how many people are in the Wide to witness this celebration. He felt his heart pounding with excitement. And to his surprise, the cheers died down into complete silence.

"I...I would like to thank all of you for coming," Ralis said, testing his voice to see if the Flaming Fist cleric's Thaumaturgy cantrip would help amplify the volume of his voice so everyone in the Wide can hear him, not just those close to him.

"It has been a rough fight," Ralis continued, shifting his body left and right nervously a bit. "We survived the Iron Crisis, we averted a catastrophic war against Amn, and the people responsible for it all are either dead or arrested. And I am honored that I am appreciated for all of my heroic efforts. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart."

Then everyone applauded for about seven seconds, then Ralis continued speaking.

As soon as he opened his mouth he immediately paused there because he spotted a familiar face in the crowd. He saw Sarevok's lover, Tamoko. She looked sad. Ralis couldn't understand why she is looking at him so sadly, but then he remembered that he promised that he would bring Sarevok back to her alive. He broke that promise, and now Tamoko will never see her beloved Sarevok again. And here he is, smiling and waving at the people of Baldur's Gate, forgetting that he has dishonored one person in particular. Not wanting to look at his face anymore, Tamoko disappeared into the crowd. Ralis wanted to call out to her, reach out for her and say some kind of apology, but he froze with his right arm partially stretched out towards Tamoko's direction, unsure of what to say until an idea came to mind for his speech.

"I have faced many tragedies along the way, as all of you have. I may be a hero to you all, I may seem larger than life to all of you, but I am not perfect, I am a human with flaws, just like all of you. It's important to keep in mind that even heroes are capable of making mistakes. I have made many mistakes that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I've learned that not everyone can be saved no matter how hard you try. But the important thing in life is not to give up, but to learn from those mistakes, not to drown your sorrows in them either. That is how we develop. That is how we improve ourselves. We can't correct our mistakes once we have made them, and we most certainly can't choose where we come from. Whether you are rich or poor, it does not matter. Your true greatness comes from something more than your origins or social rank. I want you all to remember that as we try to figure out what to do about the crusaders far north. Thank you."

Everyone applauded while Ralis climbed down off the platform, and soon the festival truly began. The market tents in The Wide sold various kinds of foods and some tents had special activities and games for kids and and adults to enjoy, like throwing darts at a certain target or dummy, playing memory card games for prizes and the like. Ralis found Neera near a pink and blue striped tent where adults go to gamble, and Ralis assumed that Neera plans on gambling.

"What are you doing over here?" Ralis asked her in a warm, suave tone.

"Oh! I-" Neera began to say but the next words never came out because Ralis kissed her lips.

Then she chuckled and smiled. "I still really like your boldness, kissing me in front of hundreds of people all around us..."

"Who cares? Let them look," Ralis sensually said as he tried to brace his body on Neera's for intimate contact, but Neera pushed him away.

"No! No-no-no-no! Not here, not now," she protested.

Ralis sighed, feeling the warm and fuzzy feeling in his body slowly ebb away. "You sure are a mood killer, you know that, right?" He asked her.

"I've killed worse. Wait, let me rephrase that. I... Ah, damn, I lost my train of thought," Neera muttered.

"Maybe a kiss will help jog your memory," Ralis said, then he kissed Neera on her forehead.

Then she laughed. "You're either a hopeless romantic or something else on you is, and I think its the latter," she said, winking at him. "By the way, have you seen Coran? He promised he would gamble with me," she added.

"I haven't seen him since before the speech," Ralis admitted.

Then somehow, among the chatter of crowds, Neera and Ralis heard Coran's voice nearby. They heard him say: "It's not what you think!"

"Uh-oh," Ralis and Neera said together and walked away from the tent towards the direction of Coran's voice.

They found him talking to a human woman with semi short black hair.

"I have a d-daughter? That's, uh, wonderful. I swear, Briel, I-I did not plan for this either, but..." Coran stammered almost like Khalid.

"Whether we planned it or not, it happened! Surprised your fling had consequences? My husband Yago was none too happy when my daughter turned out to be a half-elf. Namara is your daughter, Coran!" Brielbara said.

"Oh wow, I should have seen this coming," Ralis said.

"Poor Coran, can't keep his pants on around women," Neera shrugged and smirked.

Coran felt at a loss for words almost. "I... I don't know what you expect from me, Briel. I have a daughter, but what should I do about it?"

"I expect you to grow a spine, elf, and take care of your daughter!" Brielbara snapped.

"Wait! Shh! Do you hear that?" Coran asked her.

Brielbara looked around in confusion.

"How can you hear something among so many people?" She asked him with a perplexed frown.

"That's the open road calling my name, and I was born to answer that call. Bye," Coran said quickly then disappeared into the crowd.

Brielbara was still looking around when Coran was speaking, but when she paused to look at him he was already gone.

"Coran! CORAN!" Breilbara shouted and walked off to find him.

Neera and Ralis laughed.

"He really is a stupid elf!" He said while laughing.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Ralis. If you don't want to be a father, keep your underpants on," Neera told him.

Ralis wrapped his arms around her neck. "What if I don't want to, hmm?"

Neera looked at him quizzically. "Huh? Oh no! No! Wild mages make terrible mothers! No!"

"Relax! I'm just kidding!" Ralis laughed.

Neera huffed. "Gods, your jokes need some serious polishing," she said, then her enthusiastic expression became serious and sullen. "But, uh... I have to tell you something..." Neera said, lowering her voice.

"What?" Ralis asked curiously.

For some reason, Neera couldn't look into his eyes.

"Um... You and me... I don't think this will work out..."

"Huh? What are you talking about, Neera?"

"I'm talking about our relationship! I'm a wild mage! I'll never forgive myself if my untamable magic hurts you! You deserve someone better than me, someone who won't harm you by accident... And, uh, never harm you at all. You get what I mean. So... I'm leaving Baldur's Gate and find someone or something who can teach me how to control my wild magic. So... This is goodbye. Later, hero." Neera gave Ralis a soft smooch on his forehead turned around and started walking away from him.

"Neera! Wait! Please don't do this! I don't want anyone else! I want you! Wait! Come back! Neera!" Ralis called sadly, his eyes becoming fully moist with tears, but Neera never looked back at him, disappearing into the crowd.

Ralis felt like collapsing in defeat. He found romance in his life for the very first time, and now, it has left him with a broken heart. And at that moment he realized that he has finally experienced how it feels to have a broken heart. Being around Neera made him feel like soaring above the skies like a proud eagle, and now, he feel like plummeting to the ground like an eagle shot down by an archer.

* * *

Hours later, Ralis retired to his bedroom in the Ducal Palace and lay in his bed wearing nothing but his undershirt and underwear, exhausted, tired, and uneasy. Though he enjoyed the celebration in The Wide, he couldn't shake this feeling of uneasiness. Throughout the party, he heard some people whisper that he might be a child of Bhaal, that he didn't kill Sarevok to save the city, he did it because Sarevok was competition, a rival that needed to be eliminated. Ralis understood why some people would speculate this, it would take pure luck for an average mortal man to defeat a child of Bhaal like Sarevok. On top of this all, he kept hearing many things about Caelar Argent's crusades far north. Will her influence spread down to Baldur's Gate? And if it does, she will no doubt ruin efforts of recovering from the Iron Crisis. Already more than a hundred refugees from villages, towns and cities up north are taking refuge in Baldur's Gate. Hopefully by tomorrow the Grand Dukes will have something planned out.


	2. Chapter 2 A New Adventure part 1

One month has passed after the parade celebrating the complete defeat of Sarevok and his loyal mercenaries. Two months ago, when Sarevok was still alive and the iron crisis was still active, which was on the first day of the month Eleint, Marshal Kyrill Nederlok of the Flaming Fist had tasked Corporal Bence Duncan and a contingent of their soldiers to go on a scouting mission north to Dragonspear Castle, and along the way there speak to farmers, travelers and adventurers they meet to gain information on the crusaders in case they have to mount an assault against them someday, even though the possibility of Baldur's Gate going to war against Amn was also possible.

Then a couple months later to the present day month, the third day of Uktar, "The Rotting", the second middle month of the autumn season before Nightal, "The Drawing Down", which is the name of the final month of the Year of the Banner (1368 DR) before the new year called the Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR), Duncan and his scouting party returned to Baldur's Gate and gave Nederlok and Corwin his field report about Caelar's crusaders, their activities any information he believed relevant and useful. By the time Duncan arrived back to Baldur's Gate from his scouting mission, he was happy to learn that the iron crisis is over and war against Amn has been averted, but he is worried that Baldur's Gate might have avoided one war just to fall into another. In addition to all of this happening, more and more refugees that have been displaced by Caelar's crusader armies have been collecting at Baldur's Gate at an alarming rate. However, The hero of Baldur's Gate never got involved with the Flaming Fist's concerns about Caelar Argent and her crusaders being a possible threat until one fateful night on the fifth day of Uktar. Ralis is sound asleep in his king-sized bed, snug in the satin bed sheets, resting comfortably on the pillows and snoring loudly... until he heard Imoen's voice.

"Heya! Ralis, you awake? It's me, Imoen," he heard her say.

He stopped snoring, but he didn't open his eyes, not even an inch.

"I know who you are. And no, I'm not awake," Ralis grumbled in annoyance.

Imoen sighed. "Then I guess I'll talk to you in your sleep," she shrugged.

"Go ahead," Ralis muttered, still keeping his eyes shut.

"Maybe I'm just jumpy, because of what's been going on in the city. There's SO many people here running from that crusade in the north. I thought I heard noises outside my room. I was worried something was happening..." Imoen said with mild anxiety in her voice.

At this moment Ralis finally opened his eyes, then he threw the bed sheets off his body and sat at the edge of his bed, looking at Imoen with a warm smile.

"Imoen, we're in the Ducal Palace. If something bad happens, this is the safest place we can be," he assured her.

Imoen rolled her eyes at him. "Yeesh, why do I even bother trying to talk to you?" She asked herself and Ralis at the same time.

Before Ralis could reply, Imoen snapped at alert, immediately turning her head and body to face the door that is 15 feet ahead of Ralis's bed.

"Wait, there it is again. Did you hear that...?" Imoen asked in a whisper but loud enough for Ralis to hear.

"Hear what...?" Ralis whispered back, feeling rather perplexed and wondering if Imoen's nerves are getting shot at the the thought of a mob of refugees attacking the Ducal Palace for food or money.

Imoen didn't reply, in any way. She stood perfectly still and quiet and so did Ralis. They heard almost nothing but the barely audible indistinct chatter and shouts of hundreds of refugees wandering the midnight streets of Baldur's Gate five floors below Ralis's room.

"... I'm gonna go check it out," Imoen finally said, then she cautiously headed for the door, opened it and moved on into the next room.

Shaking his head to stave off the grogginess that still plagued him, Ralis stood up, grabbed his two sided dirk sitting atop the the dresser next to his bed and steadily headed towards the open door Imoen had recently entered. The room in between his bedroom and the other room on the 6th floor of the Ducal Palace is simply a large room with two couches on both sides of the door Ralis entered from, and two chairs next to each of the two couches, and in the middle of the room is a large expensive rug with a small table with a plant in a pot sitting on top of it. Ralis saw that the next door up ahead leading into the next room is wide open, a sign that Imoen has gone down to the fifth floor of the Ducal Palace from the other room of the sixth floor. As soon Ralis's feet stepped on the rug, he heard Imoen cry out in panic, which snapped him completely wide awake!

He saw Imoen running towards him from the other room ahead!

"Imoen!" He exclaimed.

"Ralis! Something's happening- there are people here- help me!" Imoen cried in panic as she ran towards Ralis.

Ralis saw a shadowed silhouette of a man pursuing Imoen, but he couldn't see who it was because all the candle lights in the next room are out. As soon as Imoen entered the same room that Ralis is in, the man's silhouette threw a throwing knife, and the knife's blade hit Imoen's left shoulder and the knife buried itself deep, causing Imoen to scream out in pain and tumble to the ground, but Imoen somehow managed to get back up on her feet when she was rolling on the ground, then she turned around to face the assassin who threw the knife at her, and he wasn't alone. Two more assassins in black hoods and clothes came into the room!

"Keep back! I'm warning you, come any closer and I'll... I'll..." Imoen tried to warn the three shady men.

"Cut her down," the man wearing shadow armor ordered.

"NO!" Ralis screamed, charging at the man who gave the order.

Imoen blasted the assassin closest to her with a Magic Missile, instantly killing him because he wore no armor, just black clothing with a hood to cover his face, and the magical sphere turned his chest to a bloody pulp when he got hit. Ralis tackled the man who ordered to have Imoen cut down before he could throw one of his throwing knives at her.

Imoen was about to attack the other assassin with her dagger, but a fourth thief that Ralis and Imoen didn't know was there because he snuck in after drinking a Potion of Invisibility, revealed himself when he grabbed Imoen from behind and stabbed her in the back with his dagger, and Ralis saw it all happen.

" _NOOOOO!"_ He screamed in despair.

"That's the hero of Baldur's Gate! Get him!" The assassin Imoen was going to attack exclaimed.

Ralis rolled off the assassin he tackled when the other assassins tried to throw throwing knives at him. Ralis is completely exposed with nowhere to take cover, but fortunately he had the foresight to use the assassin he tackled as a shield against the throwing knives. When he rolled off the assassin he tackled, he pulled the assassin's body to roll with him, placing him in front of the incoming throwing knives, and the blades struck the man's back.

"Aaagh!" The man cried out in pain and died, giving Ralis enough time to scramble up to his feet.

"Damn it!" The assassin that attacked Imoen cursed then he and his partner ran towards Ralis to attack him in melee combat.

Ralis crouched slightly to dodge the left hook of the assassin that stabbed Imoen and headbutted the other assassin in the chest, catching him off guard and throwing both of them off balance. When they both tumbled to the ground, Ralis grabbed his dirk and stabbed its blade into the man's neck only once, but he didn't have time to finish the man off, he had to worry about the other man, so he left the assassin he stabbed writhing in agony on the floor, gargling in pain while trying to plug his neck wound with his right hand while dealing the assassin that stabbed Imoen.

The assassin now brandished a dagger in each hand, so Ralis didn't foolishly come at him. Just before the assassin attempted to charge at Ralis, an arrow flew out of nowhere and hit the man right in the forehead! He collapsed on the floor with his mouth and eyes wide open in shock.

Confused, Ralis turned around to see a tall woman wearing lightweight chainmail body armor with short black hair and a quiver containing 15 arrows standing near the door to his bedroom holding up her longbow in a arrow firing position for a few seconds, then she lowered it once she was sure the threat had been shot down.

"You all right?" Schael asked Ralis.

"Who are you?" Ralis asked her.

Schael placed her longbow behind her back and casually approached Ralis.

"Forgive me- I'm Schael Corwin, captain, Flaming Fist. Enemy forced penetrated the palace- I tried to reach you before they did, but... well..."

While Schael was speaking, Ralis walked over to unconscious Imoen to check if she is either dead or unconscious.

"I'd probably like to hear more about what happened if my best friend wasn't dying," Ralis said.

Schael checked Imoen's injury with Ralis and noticed that there is a dagger wound on her back, 3 inches to the left near her spinal column.

"Fenster, the palace cleric, is working his way up, assisting the wounded as he goes. Your friend doesn't look TOO bad..." Schael commended, then shook her head, as if she made an error in her statement and just realized it. "... No, best not to risk it. I'll find Fenster and get him up here," she added.

As if on cue, Liia Jannath and two armored and armed Flaming Fist guards came charging into the room urgently.

"Imoen? Are you here, girl?" Liia called.

"She is here, Grand Duchess Jannath, but she needs help," Schael confirmed, showing Liia Imoen's unconscious body ion the expensive rug.

"Let me see her," Liia instructed.

Ralis and Schael backed away, giving Liia some space, and she knelt down, checking Imoen's dagger wound. Then after four seconds of examination, Liia turned to face Ralis.

"Fenster and the other healers are dealing with the wounded downstairs. I've some knowledge of the healing arts and a few potions- perhaps I can be of some assistance," she told him.

Ralis tried his best not to cry at the thought of Imoen being dead.

"Whatever you can do to help Imoen, please, just let me know how I can help," He said almost tearfully.

"The assassins' blades are coated with a mystic poison, but I believe I can save her..." Liia assured Ralis.

""Believe"? Can you say something a little more encouraging than that?" Ralis asked.

"There is no certainty to be had in this world. I will do everything in my power to restore her. The best thing you can do right now is accompany Captain Corwin downstairs and ensure the palace is secure," Liia replied honestly.

"Of course, milady," Schael said to Liia, then turned her attention to Ralis. "I'll give you a moment to recover yourself, Ralis, and await you on the second floor," she told him.

"Got it," Ralis nodded, then Schael headed back towards Ralis's bedroom and descended down the stairs in that room.

Ralis closed the door to the room where Liia and the two Flaming Fist guards are watching over unconscious Imoen and took the time to undress out of his night clothes, and put on the usual clothes he wears under his body armor, then put on his signature body armor made out of the hide of ankhegs, then strapped on his belt and scabbards containing is two favorite hand-and-a-half swords Kondar and Albruin, then rushed downstairs to meet with Schael.

Ralis saw that on the 5th floor of the Ducal Palace, Schael and three other Flaming Fist guards have already defeated all of the assassins on this floor, five assassin bodies and three Flaming Fist guard bodies littered the floor around the 18 foot long rectangular banquet table.

"We've suffered casualties, but not as much as our enemies, fortunately," Schael informed Ralis.

"That's good news at least," Ralis nodded in agreement.

"We better continue downstairs and make sure no assassins survived," Schael suggested.

"Right," Ralis nodded, following Schael down the Ducal Palace's western stairwell.

There were more assassins that needed to be killed on the fourth and third floors of the Ducal Palace, but the second floor of the palace is all clear.

"Is that all of them?" Schael asked Ralis.

"I believe so," Ralis shrugged, sheathing his bloodstained swords.

"The Council will want to know you're all right- we should get downstairs. Let's go," Schael instructed, and Ralis followed her down to the ground floor of the palace.

* * *

In the ballroom at the ground floor level of the palace, the same place where Ralis exposed Sarevok's deception to Belt and Liia during Sarevok's nearly successful coronation as Grand Duke almost replacing Entar Silvershield, Ralis, with Schael standing by his side, met with all four Grand Dukes of Baldur's Gate, Duke Eltan, Duke Entar Silvershield, Duke Belt and Duchess Liia Jannath.

"Let us begin," Liia began. "Ralis, you know your host, Duke Belt, and Grand Dukes Eltan and Entar Silvershield, I believe?" She asked.

Ralis met most of the Grand Dukes during the iron crisis, but he has never met Entar Silvershield in person before, he only knew Entar through the gossip of the citizens and the city watch that he was allegedly murdered by Shadow Thieves along with Scar, but in reality he was killed by two of Sarevok's best assassins. Ralis heard that Entar had been resurrected, but he never met the man in person until now even though he has been living in the Ducal Palace for the past month since Sarevok's death and never returned to Candlekeep. Then again, Entar spends all of his free time with his wife and daughter in his estate in the northwestern parts of Baldur's Gate.

"I haven't had the honor to meet Grand Duke Silvershield until today," Ralis told Liia, then he wanted to ask Entar a question that has been bugging him ever since he heard rumors of Entar's resurrection.

"Grand Duke Silvershield. Weren't you... forgive me if this is indelicate... Weren't you killed?" Ralis asked with caution trying not to offend him with such a horrific memory.

"It took all of Fenster's skills to restore me to life. But we are not here to discuss my health," Entar replied more casually than Ralis thought he would.

"What do you know of the so-called Shining Lady, Caelar Argent, Ralis?" Duke Eltan asked.

Ralis shrugged. "Not as much as the commander of the Flaming Fist, I'd wager. Why?"

"I examined the body of one of the assassins. A sun cresting the horizon was branded upon his forearm," Eltan replied.

"The symbol of Caelar Argent and her accursed crusade," Liia confirmed.

Ralis frowned in confusion and scratched his head. He is surprised ot know that Caelar's crusade is spreading their influence further south along the Sword Coast.

"The crusade has reached Baldur's Gate? I thought they were only active north of the Winding Water," Ralis stated, still frowning in deep concern.

The Winding Water is a river located in the Sword Coast, approximately 250 miles north from Baldur's Gate and the Chionthar River, beginning at the Serpent Hills and the Marsh of Chelimber before joining together further south and passing under Boareskyr Bridge, a bridge little more than 300 miles southeast from Dragonspear Castle, then south several miles before turning west through the inhospitable tors of a series of jagged hills known as The Troll Claws and then under the Coast Way Crossing bridge before winding its way west towards the ocean shore 201 miles away, emptying out into the ocean known as the Sea of Swords.

"They were. Something has changed," Belt confirmed with a nod. "The crusade has disrupted trade all along the Sword Coast. Hundreds, thousands, have been driven from their homes, their fields and storehouses ransacked. Some weeks ago soldiers of Waterdeep and Daggerford were dispatched and marched on Caelar's stronghold- Dragonspear Castle."

Ralis couldn't believe it. Caelar Argent's stronghold is actually Dragonspear Castle? The abandoned castle that is infamously known for the two wars that took place there? From what he has heard, there were two wars centered around this location. The first Dragonspear War happened twelve years ago, in the Year of the Worm (1356 DR), two years before the year all gods including Bhaal but except Helm were forced to walk Faerun as mortals. Devils overran Dragonspear Castle until an army made up soldiers from Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep along with Khelben defeated them. Khelben and the soldiers learned that there is a portal to the Nine Hells somewhere deep within Dragonspear Castle, but they had no idea how to seal it.

Then, five years ago from now, in the Year of the Wyvern (1363 DR), the second Dragonspear War happened, only this time the threat from Dragonspear Castle came in the form of The Horde, a nearly well-organized army of hobgoblins, ogres, bugbears and kobolds commanded by a demon named Baazka, who also had dominated and controlled a black dragon named Maelestor Rex into working for him as an ally. Baazka's forces destroyed The Way Inn, a very famous inn on the Trade Way road that is 100 miles northwest from Dragonspear Castle, and attacked Daggerford as well. Llewellyn Longhand, the man who hired the adventurers instrumental in conquering The Horde, was one of the casualties during the attack, but like Duke Entar Silvershield after him, Longhand was brought back from the dead by a skilled cleric after the war. After repelling the demon attack, the army of Daggerford took it upon themselves to fight against the Hordes of Dragonspear with the assistance of 3rd Company, who are military men from Waterdeep, and Uhmbrick's rangers, the knights of Ilmater, the Misty Forest elves, the dwarves of Illefarn and several adventurers. Baazka was defeated, Maelestor Rex freed from his control, and Baazka was forced to retreat back to the Nine Hells through the portal that allowed demons to pour out during the first Dragonspear War.

Eltan rubbed his right hand on his chin in thought. "It won't be enough," He announced gravely. "The crusade's ranks have swelled. After the Iron Crisis, the Fists are already stretched perilously thin. Even so, we plan on sending every sword we can muster north."

"We would have you join them. The hero of Baldur's Gate is once again called to upon to defend the city," Liia said.

"I stand ready to answer that call," Ralis said without hesitation.

"Excellent. I knew our faith in you was not misplaced, Ralis," Belt said with a relieved smirk.

"There is one other thing you should know, Ralis," Eltan said, then pulled a piece of paper out of his small scroll case attached to his belt and handed it to Ralis. "I took this parchment from one of the assassins' bodies. It's a passable likeness of you, I'm sure you'll agree."

Ralis examined the parchment and saw that someone has drew a nearly accurate picture of himself, the semi short brown hair, the brown eyes, the shape of his face, everything. Someone working for Caelar Argent knows Ralis's face somehow.

"So I was the assassins' target?" Ralis asked Eltan for clarification or at least an opinion.

"You need not go alone. The Fist shall back you- and more as well, if you wish," Belt said. "I know the whereabouts of your old allies- some of them, anyway. The captain here can escort you to them."

"So you're assigning Captain Corwin to come with me? I can think of no better companion," Ralis said, then glanced over at Schael.

"Spoken like someone who barely knows me, but I'll take what compliments I can get and do what I can not to change your mind. When you're ready to leave, Ralis, go to the palace's main doors, I'll await you there."

"Understood," Ralis said, then Schael walked away, leaving the ballroom.

"You're doing Baldur's Gate a great service, Ralis. We'll not forget it," Belt said, then he dismissed everyone.

* * *

Ralis remembered that Ophyllis, the Ducal Palace's treasurer, is keeping all of Ralis's money he acquired during his travels uncovering the secrets of the Iron Throne in the palace's basement, so he decided to pay Ophyllis a visit before leaving the palace with Schael.

But before he could get five feet close to the door leading to the stairs to the basement, he heard someone nearby whisper: "Hey. Hey, over here."

Ralis slowly turned around and saw a tall girl who appears to be only a few years older than himself wearing the clothes of a regal noblewoman standing near six feet away behind him. The girl's name is Skie Silvershield, Entar's daughter. Standing five inches taller than Ralis and two years older than he is, Skie's long black hair is tied into a bun, her hair parted in the middle of her scalp, and she has almond eyes like her father. Ralis has only known Skie for a month, ever since the day after the parade. She is a rebellious and mischievous girl, always has been ever since she was a child, giving her father and mother a hard time keeping her out of trouble, and Entar learned a couple years ago that Skie occasionally tries to sneak off to have private romantic dates with her boyfriend, a human bard from an island in the Trackless Sea called Ruathym named Eldoth Kron. Whenever Skie sneaks off with him and Entar finds out, he tasks anyone willing to track Skie down and bring her back to the Silvershield estate away from Eldoth. But no matter how many times Skie has been caught with Eldoth, she always manages to find some way to escape and be with him again and again. Ralis, however, has never taken the job of liberating Skie from Eldoth's hands in the month prior to the crusade's assault on Ducal Palace, but he is fully aware of Skie's reputation.

"Skie? What are you doing here? You better not be up to mischief again. The last thing I want to hear is Entar or your mother complaining again about you sneaking off to be with your sweet-talking boyfriend," Ralis warned her.

"I don't do that anymore. Besides, I was just a child then. Now, I'm a woman. I've even joined... Well, never mind. I'll tell you that later, when I'm sure we're alone," Skie said with a mischievous smirk on her face and lowering her voice to a whisper.

Ralis could tell she is up to something, but for now he can't figure out what until she tells him.

"I heard you talking to Daddy and the other dukes about Caelar. Are you going to Dragonspear?"

Ralis did not want to give her a straight answer, so he shrugged and said with mock sarcasm: "Why not? The Sword Coast is lovely this time of year."

Skie's grin grew more, and it unsettled Ralis a bit. "Daddy hasn't told you everything. Did he mention he thinks Caelar might be one of Bhaal's children? Yeah, I thought not," Skie then suddenly looked around as if she suspects someone is watching or listening. "We can't talk here- I'll tell you more later," she said then left, heading upstairs.

Ralis had no idea what is on her mind, all he knew about is if Entar knew about it, he would not be pleased about it at all. So he continued going downstairs to the palace's basement.

* * *

The Ducal Palace's basement is bigger than what you would expect, and it looks more like a dungeon than a basement. There are four separate sections of the basement and a central area designed to look like an underground fighting arena or something similar to it, the central area is a wide open rectangular space surrounded by over a dozen pillars, the northeastern section is where prisoners are held as if this place is a dungeon, the southeastern sections are where drinks like wine, ale and mead are stored, the northwestern sections are where foods is being stored, and the southwestern sections are where money is being kept, and that is where Ralis needs to go.

Heading for the door leading to the treasury rooms, Ralis walked down a long corridor towards a man asleep sitting on a chair, guarding the door to the treasury room. The man's name is Ophyllis. He has short, shaggy red hair and a small mustache with no beard or sideburns, and at first glance he seems like an unassuming person, but Ralis has known this man as long as he has known Skie, he is a not shy at all, he has many friends. Ralis stopped near him, crossing his arms and shaking his head in disappointment at Ophyllis sleeping on the job.

"Sleeping on the job, eh, Ophyllis?" Ralis said aloud to wake him up.

Ophyllis gasped and quickly stood up on his feet exclaiming: " _NO! No-no-no, Duke Belt, I swear, I_..." He paused and saw Ralis standing near him instead of Duke Eltan.

"Oh! Ralis! Uh, hello. What brings you down here to the palace treasury this night?" Ophillyis smiled sheepishly, embarrassed at revealing his fear of being caught sleeping by Eltan.

"Well met, Ophyllis. I embark upon a journey soon, so I'd like to withdraw my savings, please," Ralis greeted him.

Ophyllis blinked twice, then he said: "You, uh, you want your money, do you?"

"If you'd be so kind," Ralis nodded.

At that moment Ophyllis felt the back of his neck itching and he felt the urge to scratch it, and Ralis noticed that Ophyllis could not keep eye contact on him.

"Yes, well, you see, here's the thing. There's, uh, in regards to your gold, there's a little problem... I, er, I don't exactly have it at the moment," Ophyllis reluctantly said while scratching the back of his neck.

Ralis was feeling angry, no doubt about it, and Ophyllis knew it, but Ralis did not want to unleash his rage on Ophyllis, but if he is responsible for losing his savings, then something must be done.

"I see. And how exactly did you lose all my money?" He asked.

Ophyllis shrugged. "I still don't know how it happened. The dog won every race it was in the last five tendays. It should have won this race too, but someone's pet rabbit won the race! Who brings a rabbit to a dog race? I mean really!"

" _WHAT? You bet all my gold on a dog race? ALL of it?_ " Ralis exclaimed incredulously.

"In all fairness, I also bet all my gold on the race and lost that too. I can get the gold for you soon, very soon, I swear. Please don't tell Duke Belt of this. I'll lose my post," Ophyllis pleaded.

"I won't tell Belt. You'll tell him yourself, immediately. He needs to know what's happening down here."

"Oh no, please- please don't make me do that," Ophyllis got down on both of his knees and pleaded, his slightly tanned vanilla colored face sweating profusely.

"I want my money, Ophyllis. Get it for me. NOW," Ralis demanded, losing his patience.

"Please. Just give me a little time. I'll get it for you, I swear. I'll- I'll go right now and fetch it for you, shall I? Yes, I'll go now. I'll meet you outside the palace with your money before you leave," Ophyllis promised.

"Don't let me down, I'm depending on you," Ralis warned him.

Ophyllis nodded and left. Ralis slowly followed him. Ophyllis traveled up the stairs six seconds after Ralis emerged from the hallway leading to the treasury room, and before Ralis could place his right leg on the first step of the stairs, he heard a strange noise. The sound of arcane energy whooshing loudly. The three Flaming Fist guards here in the basement heard it too, and Ralis thought he recognized that sound, so he headed northeast towards the confused Flaming Fist guards.

"Did you hear that?" One of them asked.

"Huh?" The guard standing near one of the jail cell doors frowned in confusion. He turned around to face the jail door he guarded.

"Who is in there?" Ralis asked.

Soon he got his answer. The person inside the jail cell cast a Fireball spell, causing the door to explode off its hinges and smash into the guard standing in front of it!

Ralis and the other two guards flinched in surprise as the door and the guard who got smashed by it flew past them.

When Ralis looked at the open jail cell, a woman stepped out, a mage, already protected by her Globe of Invulnerability and had already cast Mirror Image making four illusory copies of herself. Ralis knew of only one woman who loved to use those kinds of protection spells.

What confused him even more is her ragged state. Her robes are dirty and torn, almost exposing her bosom and the lower parts torn off to expose her bare legs, there are knife cut marks on her arms legs, chest and face, and her left eye is bruised and swollen from being punched by someone recently, almost closed shut.

"You! Stand down!" One of the guards exclaimed.

"Never! I'll not be imprisoned again!" The bruised and battered woman shot back.

Korlasz ignored the guards but she did not ignore Ralis standing in front of her.

"Stand down, or we will put you down!" The second guard armed with a longsword and round shield exclaimed.

"Korlasz!" Ralis exclaimed in shock at seeing her emerge from her jail cell.

Korlasz ignored the guards, but she did not ignore Ralis, her hateful eyes fixed on him and bent on revenge.

"You! You are the one who delivered me to this hell!" She snarled.

"You call this place hell? Your last residence was a crypt, so the Ducal Palace is quite a step up to me," Ralis said.

"I was surprised when I was taken to the palace and not to the jail. Now I know it was so the dukes could torment me in private. Did you think I'd be treated fairly? Justly? I expected no mercy, but even I didn't expect this... this horror."

Ralis couldn't believe what he heard her say. The Flaming Fist and Grand Dukes _tortured_ this woman? Even though she was an ally of Sarevok, Ralis believes that all prisoners should be treated humanely regardless of their allegiance, he does not condone torture, it is inhumane in his eyes.

"You're saying that the Flaming Fist mistreated you? Tortured you?" Ralis asked her in disbelief.

"Don't believe a word this bitch says, she's trying to mess with your head, sir!" The guard with the sword and shield said.

"You're nothing more than I expected, Ralis. Pathetic. Now let us finish this!" Korlasz exclaimed.

"Attack!" The guard with the longbow exclaimed.

Ralis and the guard with the sword and shield charged at Korlasz, their swords ready to strike.

Korlasz and her illusory clones split up and took cover behind the pillars to avoid the arrows being fired by the other guard.

The guard with the sword and shield quaffed a potion of Defense and went after one of the clones hoping it is the real Korlasz. Ralis and the guard with the longbow stayed out in the open, waiting for Korlasz and her illusion clones to make a move.

"Gotcha!" Enforcer #2 with the sword and shield exclaimed when he found Korlasz hiding behind one of the northern pillars, but when he cut her down, he realized that his sword had actually destroyed one of her illusory clones!

"Damn it!" He cursed.

At that moment he heard the real Korlasz behind him chanting the words and doing the hand gestures to cast a spell on him. By the time he turned around to face her, he charged at her even though there is the possibility he won't be able to get close enough to strike her down in time. Korlasz cast the Slow spell on him, causing his movements to be slow as a turtle. Saved by her spell, she then used the rest of her clones to distract Ralis and the other guard while she cast the Slow spell on the other guard. All she wanted is to slow down the guards and confront and kill Ralis as revenge for not only killing Sarevok and ruining his plans, but also arresting her to be brutally tortured by the Flaming Fist guards. After the second guard was affected by the Slow spell, Korlasz moved away from the guard with the sword and shield even though he was only 8 feet away from being close enough to strike her down with his sword, but he wouldn't be able to do that at the turtle speed he is going.

Then Korlasz cast Mirror Image again, creating more illusory images of herself to confuse and confound Ralis while she prepared a spell that she has been memorizing for future use in the past few days waiting for the right moment to break out. While running around cutting down whatever illusory image he thought was the real Korlasz, he couldn't help wondering why Korlasz isn't attacking him and the guards, only using her images to confuse them and the Slow spell to slow the movements of the enorcers instead of killing them outright.

Ralis then heard the sound of Korlasz chanting the words to cast a spell. He turned around and saw the real Korlasz standing 14 feet away from him, beginning to cast a spell on him. He knew that he doesn't have enough time to run over to her and strike her with either one of his swords, so he dropped them, and tried to equip his Dead Shot +2 longbow as quick as he could, but by the time he tried to pull an arrow out of his quiver, Korlasz finished casting the spell, and a ball of bright arcane energy flew straight at Ralis! He braced himself for impact, but by the time the arcane energy ball hit his chest, his eye vision immediately went pitch black.

Ralis wondered if this is what it feels like to be dead. It sure feels strange, he still has this feeling that he is standing in his feet and breathing. He then realized that Korlasz didn't kill him, she blinded him! The magic spell she cast caused him to go blind temporarily! At the moment of that realization, Ralis felt someone slug him in the face a couple times, left and right, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor.

It didn't take him long to realize that Korlasz had punched him down. And he had to admit for a woman of average build with few muscles, she threw some strong left and right hooks, both sides of his face stung like hell. He tasted blood in his mouth, and while he tired to get up, he felt Korlasz's foot slam right into his face, knocking the wind out of him, causing him to lie flat on his back, and instinctively, he brought his hands up to his neck, and just in time, because Korlasz was going to crush his neck with her foot, and his hands caught her foot. He heard her let out a gasp of surprise and Ralis pushed her foot away from his neck, and he heard Korlasz yelp in surprise and heard her body thud on the ground near him.

Ralis got on all fours quickly and stood up, reaching for his dirk attacked to his belt and moved away from Korlasz, hoping he does not run into a pillar or something. Then he heard one if the guards say in a semi slow voice: "Six!"

Ralis hesitated in confusion for a second then kicked his leg out from behind and he heard Korlasz grunt from the impact if being kicked.

Ralis quickly realized that the guards are warning him which direction Korlasz is attacking him based on the position of clock! For example, straight ahead of Ralis is 12:00, behind him is 6:00, his left is 9:00 and his right is 3:00. Since the slowed Flaming fist enforcers can't speak fast enough to form long sentences like "She's to your left" or anything like that, they had to say something short and effective, and they had to visualize the clock positions from Ralis's point of view too.

Ralis turned to face the 6:00 direction, and he hoped that korlasz remains focused on attacking him and not the guards, otherwise he will be lost and helpless.

"Three!" Enforcer #1 exclaimed.

Then Ralis, holding his two sided dirk, turned right and stabbed his dirk towards the reported position where Korlasz is likely standing! He heard the blade pierce flesh, and he heard her gasping, and he heard the sound of her feet shuffling along the ground, then he heard her body collapse on the floor.

When his sight returned three minutes later, Ralis saw what he had done. Korlasz lay on the ground facing up at the ceiling her eyes and mouth open, his dirk stuck into the wound on her chest. He stabbed deep enough to puncture her heart. He knelt down and pulled his dirk out, and looked up at the guards, unable to look at her body anymore.

"I see now why they call you "hero". We are in your debt, sir," Guard #2, who is now freed from the effects of the Slow spell said to Ralis.

"What in the Nine Hells is going on here? How did she get loose?" Ralis demanded angrily.

"We thought she was secured. Her manacles were warded, her cell reinforced, but somehow she found the magical power needed to escape," Enforcer #1 explained.

Ralis had this feeling that there is something these two men are not telling him.

"You two best go and let your commanding officer know about what happened here," Ralis told them.

"I suppose we'll have to. Damn! Captain Emesi won't be happy about this..." Enforcer #1 said with worry.

After the two men ran upstairs, Ralis stayed behind to check inside Korlasz's prison cell. He walked over to it, and stepped inside the open entrance. What he saw in there made him sick inside. There are spatters of blood on the walls and floor of the cell!

"What in the bloody hells were they doing to her...?" Ralis muttered to himself.

He didn't want to believe it, but there is the possibility that there are corrupt officers in the Flaming Fist who would never treat a prisoner humanely. Ralis can't act against them right now because he does not know who they are yet, but once he does, he will confront them about this unethical act. Ralis left the basement, his anger at Ophyllis's incompetence forgotten for the unethical treatment Korlasz endured. She may have been an ally of Sarevok, but she did not deserve this deeply inhumane treatment.

* * *

Ralis approached the exit of the Ducal Palace where Schael awaited him.

"Ready to go?" She asked him.

"Yeah. Do you know exactly where my old crew is? The streets are very crowded out there, so I need to have intel so we won't have to aimlessly run up and down the city," Ralis said.

"The Flaming Fist tracked down a few of your known associates. Unfortunately several were beyond our reach," Corwin replied as she and Ralis walked out the door, heading for the open gates leading outside, and the crowds of clamoring people littering the streets.

"Which of my friends have you located?" Ralis asked.

"Well, at the Elfsong Tavern there are two ne'er-do-wells named Safana and Coran there. The witch Dynaheir and her bodyguard Minsc are staying at the Three Old Kegs... And monk named Rasaad is currently working at the old Iron Throne building- the Council of Four made it a refuge for those fleeing Caelar."

"What about Khalid and Jaheira? They've known my foster father Gorion for years, and I trust them the most," Ralis said.

"Reports we've received put them somewhere up north, enjoying some time to themselves after the iron crisis," Schael replied as they neared closer to the open gates.

"Figures... But wait, you couldn't find Neera, the wild mage? She's hard to miss. Just look for the nearest burning... anything."

"Hmm... We did receive some reports of unseasonal fires near Boareskyr Bridge... I can't recall hearing of anything similar recently," Schael said.

The clamoring grew louder in Ralis's ears, and up ahead outside the gates he saw dozens of Flaming Fist enforcers standing guard in front of the Ducal Palace gates holding up their tower shields in defense, preventing desperate refugees from entering. Anyone who has the guts to get near the enforcers gets bashed by their shields.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Ralis heard one enforcer exclaim to the refugees trying to barge their way into the palace.

He saw one man in a dirty tattered tunic try to barge past the enforcers, but when he got bashed by their tower shields, he flew back three feet and landed on the ground hard, his back hitting the concrete road and almost somersaulted on his head, but his body never flipped and instead fell flat. Ralis saw him slowly stagger up to his feet and walk way in defeat, sobbing. He also noticed that the air is cool with a light autumn breeze, a testament that the autumn season will be ending soon and winter will begin when the year ends. He hoped that he would help the Flaming Fist stop Caelar Argent's crusade before the winter season, otherwise the refugees' visit in Baldur's Gate will be much worse once the winds grow colder and the snow starts falling.

"The Flaming Fist is trying to keep the peace, but it's an uphill battle," Schael told Ralis.

"STOP HIDING BEHIND YOUR FANCY PALACE AND GIVE US SOMETHING TO EAT AND DRINK!" One refugee, a woman, shouted among the crowd.

Ralis followed Schael past the Flaming Fist enforcers guarding the palace entrance and made their way towards the crowds of refugees.

"Damned crusaders!" Ralis heard a refugee man curse.

"The crusaders must be destroyed!" He heard another exclaim.

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Another nearby refugee spoke up.

"Out of the way people! MOVE!" Schael shouted at the top of her lungs and some of the refugees parted away making a clear path, and Ralis followed her through the crowd, looking around for Ophyllis.

 _Where is that idiot? He told me he would meet me out here..._ Ralis wondered while he followed Corwin through the crowd.

"Out of the way- out of the way, damn it!" Ralis heard Schael shout at the refugee crowds ahead.

After moving 25 feet away from the palace entrance, Ralis and Schael finally made it out of the crowd surrounding the palace, but the roads are still full of refugees. Ralis finally saw Ophyllis standing near an abandoned wooden wheelbarrow.

"Ophyllis!" Ralis called to him, waving.

Ophyllis looked up and smiled at finally seeing Ralis and approached him.

"Ralis. There you are. Nice to see you again, Captain Corwin," Ophyllis greeted them.

Corwin greeted him with a single nod, then she and Ralis noticed that Ophyllis has a cut on his face and a bruised cheek.

"Ophyllis! What happened to you?" Ralis asked with concern.

"I had it, Ralis... I had your money..." Ophyllis began to sob.

"Forget the money, Ophyllis. Who did this to you?" Ralis asked.

"They... they were refugees fleeing the crusade. I heard one... She said they c-could return to the... the Three Old Kegs, now that-  
Ophyllis stopped to double over in pain because the refugees who attacked him hit his chest several times and he still feels the pain. "Oh gods, that hurts, that really, really hurts- now that they had gold to spend."

"The Three Old Kegs, huh? Looks like I'll start there, then. Get in the palace and find Fenster. These streets aren't safe, especially in your condition," Ralis instructed him.

"You're a kind man. Th-thank you. I will repay you someday, I swear it. Just.. just need... just need a little... just need a little more time... and some healing. Excuse me." Ophyllis headed twords the crowd, squeezing through them to get back to the palace.

"Well, off we go to the Three Old Kegs then," Corwin said.

"Lead the way," Ralis said.

Fortunately the walk to the Three Old Kegs wasn't long, in fact it is next to the Ducal Palace to the east about one block away. However, having to move past hundreds of refugees to get there made the walk feel a bit longer than it should have. A few minutes later, Schael and Ralis were not far from the Three Old Kegs.

"The Three Old Kegs isn't far from here," Corwin told Ralis. "There's a pair of Rashemi travelers staying there. Duke Eltan thought you might speak with them."

Ralis took a deep breath and sighed while he followed Corwin through the crowds of Baldur's Gate citizens and refugees.

"Half-price nights for halflings at the Three Old Kegs!" A man nearby named Robel exclaimed.

"Get your stlarning arses out of my stlarning way!" Corwin angrily exclaimed at the crowds of people blocking the way.

To the left several yards ahead, Ralis saw the Three Old Kegs inn. It is the most popular hotel in Baldur's Gate, known for its comfortable furnishings and relaxing atmosphere. Its signboard has three old kegs hanging on chains from a roof pole above the door. Ralis and Corwin walked up the stairs towards the entrance, moving past people coming in or out of the inn and made their way inside.

While not a huge building, the Three Old Kegs is fairly large on the inside, with four floors above ground level and two levels of cellars below. The ground floor is the foyer and communal areas, the upper three floors contain mostly the hotel rooms. All the floors in this building are covered in thick rugs made from a wide variety of beasts, and the fabric draping the walls and floors make this inn a serene place to visit.

"Hey, Corwin," Ralis said to her when they entered.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I'm thirsty. Are you thirsty? I need a drink. Do you want to join me for a drink?" Ralis replied.

Corwin smiled. "I like the way you think. Let's go," she said, and they headed for the nearest bar.

They stopped by a bar where a woman named Charra who is the one of the bartenders of the Three Old Kegs is and took a seat.

"What can I getcha?" Charra asked Schael and Ralis.

"Wine," Corwin said.

"Ale," Ralis said.

"Coming right up," Charra nodded, then Corwin gave Charra eight silver pieces for the drinks, paying for Ralis's ale too since his money had been stolen by whoever did the deed who is somewhere in this building.

It took less than a minute for Charra to prepare Corwin and Ralis's drinks. Once they had their drinks, Ralis and Schael wasted no time drinking. Ralis noticed that Corwin's wine is dark wine from Berdusk, he heard from some acquaintances in the Flaming Fist that this kind of wine tastes pretty good, though he doubted that it could beat the flavor of Shadowdark ale.

"So. Ralis Rutela. The man. The myth. The hero of Baldur's Gate. Tell me about yourself," Corwin said after chugging her wine for a few seconds.

"Everything you heard about me? It's all true," Ralis replied after drinking his ale, not wanting to give Corwin the long story.

She raised an eyebrow in amusement. "ALL of it? Impressive..."

She had heard that Ralis had been raised in Candlekeep by a man named Gorion, and because of Sarevok, he had been forced out of Candlekeep and had to survive on his own for a while, but teamed up with Imoen and several other people to learn the truth of the iron crisis while ducking, dodging and fighting every assassin and bounty hunter the Iron Throne could throw at them. Ralis remembered that there are some rumors from people who think highly of him who believe that he might possibly be related to the paladin of Tyr from the north parts of the Sword Coast named Priam Agrivar, one of the few paladins he happens to admire from the stories of heroes Gorion used to tell him, though no one has heard anything about the paladin since the Year of the Dragon (1352 DR). However, the rumors about Ralis being related to the Agrivar family are all untrue, and he knew it.

"Well, maybe not all of it," he admitted.

"And modest too," Corwin smirked approvingly.

"And that surprises you?" Ralis asked.

"A little," Corwin nodded. "After the iron crisis, the city adores you. When I told my daughter I might meet the hero of Baldur's Gate, she nearly fainted. That kind of deference would go to some peoples' heads. But not yours, it seems. That's good. We'll need level heads when it comes time to face the crusade."

Ralis was drinking his ale while Corwin was speaking to him, but when she finished, Ralis replied: "I'll keep mine as level as I can. Tell me about yourself, Captain. How did you come to join the Flaming Fist?"

"Ah, well, therein lies a tale, but its a long one. My father, Audamar, was a Fist. You could say I followed in his footsteps," Corwin replied before continuing to drink her wine.

Ralis chuckled. "That's a curious way of pulling things. You obviously followed in his footsteps when you enlisted."

Corwin nodded in agreement. "I did, eventually. But it took me a long time to recognize the value in my father's example. When I was younger, I ran a bit wild. It took a lot of strength and patience on my father's part to set me on the right path. Things would have been much different for me if he were a lesser man."

Ralis then realized that Corwin most likely used to be like Skie when she was a few years younger.

"Sounds like Duke Entar could take a lesson from your father," Ralis smirked at the coincidence.

Corwin smirked, knowing what Ralis is hinting at. "I wasn't so different from Skie Silvershield when I was her age- I thought that everything should be given to me on a silver platter and couldn't understand why I couldn't have everything I wanted. With a little help from Tymora, she'll learn some lessons and grow into a good and decent person."

"Just like you?" Ralis asked.

"Just like me," Corwin said with a nod then continued drinking.

"Time will tell. What are your thoughts on Caelar?" Ralis asked.

"A charismatic leader. An acolyte of the Order of the Aster, once. She claims divine favor for herself and her forces- that's why so many flock to her banner. She'll be a formidable opponent," Corwin replied.

Ralis nodded in agreement. "That she will. But why? What is she hoping to accomplish?"

"We'll find out soon enough, I suspect, but what she wants is of little consequence. It's what she actually does that matters. Whether the battle's long or short, glorious or horrific, it's going to happen. Caelar's got to be stopped. She's driving people out of their homes, seizing their goods, forcing innocents into service... We can't let it go on."

"We won't. With the combined forces of Waterdeep, Daggerford and Baldur's Gate, our victory is certain," Ralis assured her.

Corwin nodded. "Drink up. We've things to do and not much time to do them in," she said.

Ralis nodded and continued drinking his ale. He looked over at the menu and saw how limited the selection of food and drinks is. The truth is, the Three Old Kegs is not a tavern or restaurant, the small selection of food and drinks from the menu proves it. the only food that is served here is dark, nutty malt bread, and Ralis is in no mood to eat anything like that, so he continued drinking his ale.

As he was drinking, he heard a lot of chatter going on around him.

"The Amnian Delight is the ricketiest tub I ever seen! You hear me over there?" He heard someone nearby exclaim.

"Ah, that crew's spineless! They don't even care when I say their captain is a doddering half-wit who don't know port from starboard! That ship of theirs shouldn't just be hauling garbage, it should be towed away AS garbage!" Someone replied to the first man Ralis heard speak among the indistinct chatter of the people in this inn.

"It's been hard tenday upon harder of late for us, but today, at least, we celebrate!"

Hearing someone nearby say that caught Ralis's attention. Over near the bar where the owner of the inn, Nantrin Bellowglyn, a tall human man with long, curly black hair and a scar shaped like the blade of a sword running diagonally from the bridge of his nose to his right cheek who is a retired nobleman's guard from Tethyr, is acting as the other bartender of the tavern, is the source of the voice. Ralis stood up and headed towards Nantrin's bar and saw that near it, four men are sitting at a table covered in a crimson cloth, eating a few slices of dark nutty malt bread and drinking large amounts of ale. Not much of a feast, but these guys are happy anyway, and that made Ralis suspicious, so he approached them.

A rugged man with receding black hair named Berahli spotted Ralis first.

"Ho there, stranger! Come and have a drink with us!" He exclaimed.

"You seem in high spirits this night, friends," Ralis observed.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Berahli asked incredulously. "We have a roof over our heads, food and drink- more than we've had since the Shining Lady's bloody crusade drove us from the Troll Claws."

Ralis couldn't understand why these men originally lived near the Troll Claws. Although the Trollclaw Ford is the safest area to travel through en route to Dragonspear Castle because it is occasionally where wagons can safely cross over the Winding Water and it is occasionally occupied by military forces, it is still a couple miles west from the Troll Claws, which is most definitely not the safest landscape to travel through or settle on because of its large population of beasts that can quickly heal their injuries, like trolls. Either these men were already homeless but had a decent life being protected by the military at the Trollclaw Ford, or the crusade made their lives much worse.

Regardless, he wanted to cut to the chase and get this done, so he asked: "Tell me, friend. Do you know a man named Ophyllis?"

"Ophyllis, aye, we know him- we know him well!" Berahli blurted out.

"Shut up, Berahli," Ozil, one of Berahli's friends snapped, then he eyed Ralis suspiciously. "You, friend- how do YOU know Ophyllis?"

"He stole some gold from me, but that's beside the point. You lot hurt the man, badly, and that cannot go unanswered," Ralis admitted.

Berahli and his friends fell silent, but not with contempt, more like subtle guilt, but Berahli and Ozil showed their guilt most.

"I'll lose sleep over that, I will. But what's done is done and I'd do it again if I had the chance. That gold may cost us our lives, but our lives would have been lost already without it. So do what you must. Kill us if you want," Berahli said.

"And if we're not killed, a cell in the Flaming Fist headquarters will at least give us a roof over our heads and a small meal a day. That's more than many have right now," Ozil added solemnly.

Ralis didn't know what to say at first. These men have no ill will towards Ophyllis, they feel guilty for what they have done, but they are not sorry for doing what they needed to do to survive as homeless refugees.

"... Your hearts might have been in the right place, but what about Ophyllis? You fellas beat the man within an inch of his life. I'm sorry, but I can't allow thievery and assault to go on unchallenged in the city. turn yourself in to Captain Corwin of the Flaming Fist over there and she will hand you over to the nearest Flaming Fist enforcer to take you to their headquarters," Ralis instructed, pointing at Corwin over at Charra's bar alone still drinking her wine.

Berahli nodded in agreement. "You're right. We needed what we took, but that doesn't excuse what we did. We'll gladly turn ourselves in. Farewell, hero," he said, then, he, Ozil and the other two men stood up out of their chairs and casually approached Corwin.

Ralis headed over to the stairs to find out which hotel room Minsc and Dynaheir is staying in. He felt embarrassed systematically checking the hotel rooms for Minsc and Dynaheir. He did not want to barge into rooms with anyone inside doing anything that is... private, so he pressed his ear against each door to see if he could hear Minsc or Dynaheir speak. Most of the rooms in the 2nd floor of the Three Old Kegs are empty. The few rooms that are occupied are occupied by refugees who had been given money by sympathetic citizens of Baldur's Gate, or they stole money from citizens like Ozil and his friends. After Ralis checked all the rooms in the second floor, he went up the stairs to the third floor.

Again, just like in the second floor, most of the rooms are vacant. When he pressed his ear on the door numbered "23", he heard some voices inside.

"There's no doubting it. Now is the time to remove the Council of Four and take the city for ourselves," someone inside said.

Ralis gasped softly and quietly. He stumbled on a conspiracy to overthrow Grand Dukes Belt, Liia, Entar and Eltan! He had heard rumors that ever since Sarevok's death, there are a group of nobles of Baldur's Gate that believe that the Grand Dukes may appear strong and indomitable, but in reality are vulnerable and weak due to the fact that Sarevok managed to send assassins to kill Entar and almost succeeded in killing Eltan and almost got elected as Grand Duke. They believe the survival of the Grand Dukes was all a fluke, and they want to replace them as supposedly stronger leaders.

"Hush! Someone's here," Ralis heard a feminine voice say from inside the room.

Ralis didn't believe that the nobles inside realized that he is eavesdropping on them, but they could have had this room magically warded to warn them of intruders. The door flew open and Ralis found himself staring into the scowling face of Lord Therton.

"You there! This is a private room! What are you... You're Ralis, aren't you? The hero of Baldur's Gate? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I apologize. I couldn't help but overhear you," Ralis humbly apologized.

"Oh? What precisely did you hear?" Lord Maxwell, the youngest of the three nobles in this room asked.

"Oh, nothing I've not heard many times since Sarevok's fall. The Council is weak. They must be removed. All that riffraff," Ralis replied with an indifferent shrug.

"You say you would join us in our efforts to, shall we say, improve the city? The hero of Baldur's Gate could be a valuable ally," Lord Therton said.

"Indeed he would- if we could trust him. Grand Duke Belt and the Council have treated you very well these past weeks, Ralis. Why turn against them now?" Lady Araya asked.

"Because this is the first opportunity that's presented itself," Ralis replied without missing a beat.

His answer proved satisfactory for the three nobles.

"There are many who would challenge Belt and the others, but few have our resources," Lord Therton said.

Lady Araya crossed her arms. "I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, but we must be unanimous in agreeing to have Ralis join us. We can make no final decision without Eldric," she said.

"Who is Eldric?" Ralis asked.

"Eldric is a drunken lout, but an influential one. We'll need him if we're to be recognized by the lords of Waterdeep. Knowing ihm, he's downstairs, drinking the inn dry," Anaya replied.

Ralis finally got an idea to expose these people to the Flaming Fist.

"Oh, THAT Eldric," he said as if he finally recalled who Eldric is. "Yes, I think I last saw him on the main floor. I'll go see if he's still there."

"Do so, and then bring him back here and we can get on with this." Anaya instructed.

Ralis nodded and closed the door, and hastily traveled downstairs to the ground floor and found Corwin sitting at Charra's bar as usual, waiting for Ralis to finish his business here.

"Captain, I got interesting news to tell you," Ralis said, almost out of breath from running down the stairs.

"Oh?" Corwin arched her left eyebrow in amusement.

"A plot against the Council is being hatched upstairs on the third floor in room 23," Ralis said.

Corwin blinked in surprise.

"Those conspirators are upstairs right now?" She asked, and Ralis nodded, then she stood up. "I'll summon help and take up position outside their door. You go back up and get them talking about this plot again," Corwin instructed.

"Very well, but make sure you and the others are ready to move as soon as the nobles reveal their plan," Ralis said.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Schael nodded and ran outside to find the nearest squad of patrolling Flaming Fist enforcers.

Ralis returned to the third floor and re-entered room 23, shutting the door behind him.

"You're back. Excellent," Lord Maxwell said.

"Any sign of Eldric?" Lord Therton asked.

"He sent a messenger. It seems he's ill from drinking too much wine and can't make it, but says you should proceed without him," Ralis replied.

"Perhaps we should reschedule for when Eldric is available?" Lady Anaya asked.

"I can't guarantee I'll be around for your next meeting. If you want me help, we need to settle this sooner than later," Ralis said with mild urgency.

"He's right. We may not have an opportunity like this again for some time..." Lord Therton agreed.

Anaya placed her hand on her hips and sighed in defeat. "Fine. Forget Eldric. There are things we can do, events we can start in motion without his immediate assistance."

Then Lord Maxwell said: "We should pool our resources and undercut the trade business of... you know who. That will put us in a strong position."

"If it's shipping lines you want disrupted, I know a few people who can make it happen," Ralis said.

"The dregs of the Sword Coast fill our streets. Demand for goods is rising, and prices will follow- we'll see to it. You will speak out about the Council's inability to deal with the situation," Lady Anays instructed Ralis, and he nodded.

"People will listen to the hero of Baldur's Gate. You will help us topple the Grand Dukes one by one. And we shall be there to take the reins of power," Maxwell said.

At that moment, suddenly, Schael kicked the door open, then she and two other Flaming fist enforcers along with Inspector Tyle charged into the room, startling Maxwell, Therton and Anaya.

"By order of the Flaming Fist, you three are under arrest!" Corwin declared.

Lord Maxwell frowned incredulously. "What? Don't you know who I am?" He asked in an offended tone as if it mattered.

"I do, and I'm disappointed to see you embroiled in this sordid plot, milord," Inspector Tyle said to Maxwell sadly.

"It was all Araya's fault!" Therton pointed at her accusingly, sweating profusely. "She put us up to this!"

"WHAT? Don't listen to him; Therton is the real ringleader!" Araya exclaimed defensively.

"The magistrate will sort it out," Tyle interjected, then he turned his attention to Ralis. "As for you, Ralis, you've done us a great service. Take this, and the city's thanks," he said then gave Ralis 90 gold coin pieces and an emerald.

"It was an honor to serve the interests of Baldur's Gate," Ralis humbly said, placing the money and jewel in his money bag.

"You did good work tonight, Ralis. Thank you," Schael said, then she and the other two Flaming Fist bound the two nobles hands by rope and escorted them out of the hotel room and Inspector Tyle followed, leaving Ralis to continue his search for Minsc and Dynaheir.

* * *

Several minutes later he found Minsc on the top floor of the inn, standing guard next to door marked #35. He saw Minsc gently holding his hamster named Boo in his big hands, and as Ralis approached, he saw Boo getting a bit agitated.

"What is it, Boo? I've never seen you so..." When Minsc turned his head to the left, he saw Ralis approaching with a smile.

"Ah? Can it be? Is this the hero of Baldur's Gate I see?" Minsc asked himself with growing glee.

"It is I, Minsc. It's been too long," Ralis said.

Minsc grinned wide like a child in a candy store. "Boo's giant shrunken heart thrills to see you again, Ralis, as does my own. How are you?"

"Aw, worse today than I felt months ago," Ralis said with a shrug. "I'm journeying north. I was hoping Boo- and you, of course, would join me. Will you join me...?"

Minsc smiled. "Boo and I would journey to at least seven of the Hells and back for you, Ralis. Probably all nine, but Boo says, "Minsc! Be realistic!" This you know."

"Yeah, I know, Boo is the voice of reason," Ralis nodded, happy to see Minsc and Boo again even though it's only been a couple months since he last saw them, but it feels like it has been a couple years.

"But we cannot leave our friend Dynaheir undefended," Minsc added.

Ralis felt stupid to forget about Dynaheir so suddenly.

"She is here, then? Excellent, I want to speak with her too," Ralis said.

"Then do as the cats do to Boo when they think he is not looking and follow!" Minsc said, then he opened the door to room 35 and stepped inside, with Ralis following.

"Dynaheir. Someone would like to speak with you," Minsc called to Dynaheir, who is busy combing her long black hair in front of a mirror.

She grunted in frustration and said in agitation: "How many times must I tell you, Minsc, I'll not debate Boo on the merits of..."

Her voice trailed off when she saw Ralis step into view from standing behind Minsc's large muscular body.

"Ralis? Is everything all right? Why art thou here?" She asked him.

To Ralis, it feels like it has been years since he has heard that strange way Dynaheir speaks, mangling the natural vocabulary of the Common tongue, but it reality it has only been a few months.

"It's been a while since I heard someone well and truly mangle the common tongue. I missed it," Ralis smiled.

Dynaheir did not smile at all.

"I know not what thou speakest of. Common words never sound better than when they're 'twixt my lips," she said firmly and proudly.

"I meant only to say you have a unique way with words, not an unappealing one. Far from it," Ralis clarified, albeit somewhat with worry Dynaheir might take offense.

"What dost thou want of me?" Dynaheir asked, wanting to skip the praise and pleasantries.

"Your company. Soon I will journey north and I would have you join me," Ralis said.

Dynaheir blinked in surprise. "Thou wouldst face the Shining Lady, then?" She aksed.

"That's right. She sent assassins to kill me an hour ago. They almost killed Imoen, and that's a transgression I can't let slide," Ralis replied.

Dynaheir now looked as if she has come to some realization that she never thought of until now.

"I know of this woman," she said to Ralis in a hushed tone. "There are those who believe her to be a daughter of the divine- perhaps even a child of Bhaal... She merits further investigation, and is the reason I still linger in the region. Thine offer is accepted. Minsc and I will travel north with thee."

"And with Boo," Minsc added, and Boo squeaked.

Dynaheir sighed and rolled her eyes. "Of course. We would be lost without thy hamster," she said with tired sarcasm in her voice.

"Prepare yourself, Boo! We are about to embark on another epic adventure!" Minsc exclaimed excitedly, and Boo squeaked enthusiastically with response.

"Come on, the captain of the Flaming Fist is waiting for us downstairs," Ralis said, leading the way with Dynaheir and Misc following.

"What have we here?" Corwin asked Ralis when she noticed Minsc and Dynaheir behind him.

"Captain Schael Corwin, allow me to introduce Dynaheir and Minsc of Rashemen," Ralis said.

Dynaheir simply nodded courteously at Corwin without saying a word.

"And this is Boo. Say hello, Boo," Minsc said, holding both hands out towards Corwin to show Boo to her.

Corwin frowned in confusion for a second, then looked over at Ralis.

"It's a long way to Dragonspear, Ralis. Are you sure you want to bring the hamster along?" She asked.

"The hamster and the ranger are a package deal, I'm afraid," Ralis admitted with a sheepish smile.

Corwin shrugged. "All right, if that's the way you want it."

After all has been said, Schael, Dynaheir and Minsc followed Ralis out the exit.


	3. Chapter 3 A New Adventure part 2

"So, where to now?" Ralis asked as they walked down the steps, being careful not to bump into anyone trying to enter the Three Old Kegs.

"Well, we should head to the old Iron Throne building. There's someone else there I forgot to mention that you might know there," Schael replied.

"Okay," Ralis nodded, letting Schael lead the way to the Iron throne building, yelling at people crazy enough to get in her way.

"Such crowds of tiny people! Make way for Minsc and Boo, tiny ones!" Minsc exclaimed.

"Do you want a Flaming Fist boot up your behind? No? Then get out of my way!" Corwin shouted.

Getting to the Iron Throne building proved more difficult than Corwin expected. The roads are full of refugees and cattle wandering aimlessly about, searching for scraps of food or a place to sleep.

"Bind me. We're never going to get where we are going..." Corwin would occasionally mutter to herself, with Ralis and Minsc being in earshot to hear her say most of the time.

It would be easier to take shortcuts through alleyways, but that is a terrible idea because most of the alleyways in Baldur's Gate reek with the pungent, foul odor of puddles of urine and piles of feces from the refugees and the horses and cattle they brought into the city, but horses and cattle don't really care where they urinate and defecate, so that means even in the middle of the road or sidewalk you still need to watch your step. And since the refugees are either too far from the nearest tavern to go use the privy or unable to use the privy in a house belonging to someone who does not mind letting a stranger use their bathroom, they have no choice but to go in the alleyways and relieve themselves. Dynaheir and Minsc felt sorry for the hungry and sleepy refugees, but there is little one or two people can do for hundreds.

Ralis looked to his left and saw a Flaming Fist mercenary on the sidewalk interrogating four boys who are also refugees.

"Out after curfew, boys? Not a smart thing for noble fellows like your esteemed selves to be doing," Ralis head him say.

"There's a curfew? With all the rabble filling the streets, you could've fooled me," one of the boys replied to the Flaming Fist enforcer.

When they got close to the docks area, and obscene stench hit their noses, and Captain Corwin said: "We should reach the Iron Throne building soon. Eltan wanted you to speak to a Selunite monk helping helping out there, name of Rasaad yn Bashir."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that Rasaad is still here too?" Ralis asked Corwin.

"You didn't ask about him," Corwin replied.

Ralis looked up at the Iron Throne building nearby, thinking back to how long it has been since every legit merchant has abandoned the building. Some left because the presence of Sarevok's most trusted acolytes gave them bad feelings, but the vast majority of them quit working for the Iron Throne when Sarevok took complete control and drove the company deep into financial ruin focusing solely on his goal to be elected as Grand Duke, start a war against Amn and cause enough bloodshed to ascend as Bhaal's successor. Rumor on the streets is that Rieltar and Saravok's superiors from the primary Iron Throne branch somewhere in Faerun has dispatched mercenaries to find out what happened to the Iron Throne branch here in Baldur's Gate. To the east next to the Iron Throne building, there are tents set up for refugees to sleep in, which means Ralis, Corwin, Minsc and Dynaheir must make their way through the shantytown of makeshift tents made of old, rotten bed sheets string on clotheslines to reach the Iron Throne building.

When Schael, Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir neared the entrance of the building, the crowds became more and more thicker. They want in to the Iron Throne building, but the Flaming Fist guarding the entrance can't let everyone in, the building is full of other refugees already.

"Move aside. Make way for the hero of Baldur's Gate," Corwin commanded the crowd as she tried to make a path for Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir to get into the building.

It took a few minutes to squeeze through the crowd, but eventually they managed to make their way into the building, the guards letting them in when they learned that Captain Corwin is escorting Ralis and his two companions who helped him bring down Sarevok.

When Ralis stepped inside the building, he got the surprise of his life. The air is stale and sour with the odor of many refugees who have not had a bath in weeks or months, the foyer is littered with tired or sick refugees asleep on their bedrolls, many priests using their spells to try to heal their ailments, but the downside for priests acting as healers is once they used up all their memorized spells, they'll have to rest a day or more or less before they can use them again, so monks from various goodly faiths go around using healing kits on the sick.

"The Iron Throne building doesn't look the same as the last time you were here, does it?" Corwin asked Ralis.

"It looks the same, but the atmosphere feels different, though," Ralis admitted.

"It does. The Council's using this building to house refugees fleeing the crusade," Corwin replied.

"A noble gesture," Ralis nodded approvingly.

"The Grand Dukes thought so. The day-to-day operations are handled by priests and monks of different faiths," Corwin explained. "I'll wait here for you. Go find Rasaad," she said.

Ralis nodded and prepared to head into the foyer towards the lined up rows of bedrolls. Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir heard the faint sound of flies buzzing around the room, and when Dynaheir looked down to her left to see a sleeping man she is passing by, she saw three flies land on his face and move around. She couldn't understand how a person can sleep so soundly with annoying insects such as these buzzing around your body and ears. Occasionally a fly would ram into one of Ralis's and Minsc's ears, causing them to flinch and scratch the ear the fly flew into.

 _I hate flies,_ Ralis grumbled.

With directions from monks, Ralis found Rasaad near one of the stairs leading up to the second floor, speaking to a monk of Sune. When Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir neared closer to Rasaad, he noticed them coming after the monk of Sune ascended up the stairs.

"What's this...? Is it truly you I see before me?" Rasaad asked, sounding almost overjoyed.

"Well met, Rasaad. It is good to see you again," Ralis smiled, giving Rasaad a friendly pat on his right shoulder.

"And you, my friend. How have you been?" Rasaad replied.

"Well, I was nearly killed tonight. But I wasn't, so all things considered, I guess I'm doing well," Ralis explained.

Rasaad raised both eyebrows with concern. "Nearly killed, you say? What happened?"

"I take it you know of Caelar's crusade?" Ralis asked.

"Indeed. This building is filled with those whose lives have been affected by it," Rasaad nodded.

"Like them, my life has suffered from her malign influence. Her assassins tried to kill me earlier. They nearly succeeded and they almost killed Imoen too."

"Is Imoen all right?" Rasaad asked, confused.

"She got the worst of the attack. Grand Duke Liia Jannath is healing her injuries, so she is fine," Ralis assured the monk.

"Ah. This is no social call, then. I gather you mean to take the battle to Caelar herself," Rasaad stated then sighed. "You know there are few things I would not do for you my friend. But I cannot help you with this. While most focus on Caelar's crusade, another, more subtle darkness is spreading. In the past few weeks, many servants of Selune have vanished."

"Art thou certain foul play has occurred? These are turbulent times. Perhaps thy colleagues are engaged in their own business and simply neglected to tell thee," Dynaheir told Rasaad.

"I cannot deny the possibility. But it is a risk I cannot afford to take. Forgive me, Ralis," Rasaad said solemnly.

"There is naught to forgive, my friend. The Selunites need you. I shall manage," Ralis assured him.

Rasaad smiled warmly. "May the Moonmaiden smile upon you in your efforts, Ralis."

"Until we meet again someday, friend," was Ralis's last words to Rasaad for now.

At that, Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir took their leave.

"What happened?" Corwin asked when they returned.

"Rasaad won't be coming with us to Dragonspear," Ralis told her.

"I see. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don't. Such is life. Next stop, we go to the Elfsong Tavern," Corwin said.

* * *

When Ralis and the others returned to the smelly shantytown of tents, they passed by a Flaming Fist soldier named Riggs extorting a refugee, a man named Byzon.

"What's this, Byzon? Huh? What is this?" Riggs asked Byzon with hostility when he was given three pieces of copper coins instead of 20 pieces of gold like he was promised and he threw the pieces of copper in Byzon's face.

"It's all I have, I swear!" Byzon pleaded after flinching.

"Well, you better have some more the next time I see you!" Riggs threatened then punched Byzon in the stomach, and walked away.

Ralis, overhearing the conversation turned around to see Byzon lying on the ground in a fetal position.

"Are you all right? Ralis asked him as he and Minsc helped Byzon stand up on his feet.

Byzon shook his head. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, you've really done it this time, Byzon..." he muttered to himself.

"Done what, exactly? Does this involve that Fist soldier that was bothering you?" Ralis asked, making sure Byzon doesn't topple over.

Byzon sighed. "I'm not fooling anyone. I'm NOT all right. That... that... that Flaming Fist THUG Riggs has taken everything I got, and its not enough. If I can't find any gold, he'll beat me worse than he did poor Yossten... I'm doomed. Doomed!" He cried.

"What? We can't let this continue to happen!" Ralis said.

"You're right, Ralis! The Flaming Fist are supposed to be righteous butt kickers, but that man is kicking the wrong butt!" Minsc exclaimed.

That soldier's name is Riggs, right? we will have some words, he and I," Ralis promised Byzon.

"Truly? Oh, thank you, sir, thank you and bless you. If you can rid me of that plague Riggs, you'll be doing all who seek refuge in Baldur's Gate a great service," Byzon said.

"This man is the hero of Baldur's Gate! He is one of the best butt kickers of evil I have ever seen! Don't you agree, Boo?" Minsc told Byzon, then Boo, sitting on Minsc's left shoulder squeaked in reply.

"Good luck then, hero," Byzon said to Ralis.

Then they went off in search of Riggs. They found him close to the crowd standing near the Iron Trone entrance hoping the guards might let them in soon or later.

"Hey! Are you Riggs?" Ralis called to him.

"Yeah? What is it you want?" He asked turning to face Ralis as he and Corwin, Minsc and Dynaheir approached him.

"I've heard that you've been extorting gold from people you were assigned to protect. There will be a reckoning for that," Ralis told him.

"Best show some respect, boy. I serve the Flaming Fist. Get out of here before I lose my patience," Riggs snapped.

"If you're smart, you're the one who'll start showing respect. The hero of Baldur's Gate is talking to you. And I'll be doing more than talk to you if you don't keep a civil tongue," Corwin said.

Riggs blinked in surprise. "Ah, sorry, Captain. It's just... well, you know how it is out here," he said, the tone of his voice now more humble. "We've been working our fingers to the bone keeping this scum safe. So what if I'm taking a little bonus? I earned it."

Ralis shook his head in disgust. "You sicken me, Riggs. Give me what you took and I'll let you go. If you don't, we'll have a problem, you and I."

"You can't do this to me! I serve the Flaming Fist!" Riggs protested, backing a few feet away until his back pressed against the stone walls surrounding the iron Throne building.

"And the Flaming Fist serves the people. Return what you've stolen and I may not speak to your commanding officer about this breach of public trust," Schael said.

"Oh Hells..." Riggs groaned, digging into his pockets and giving Ralis all the gold he had extorted from Byzon for the past few days and gave them to Ralis. "Here, here's everything I got from them. Take it. Please. Just... don't do nothing to me. I got two girls to take care of, and a wife. And my kids too."

"Take care of them, Riggs, and yourself. Don't let me catch you doing this kind of thing again, you hear?" Ralis warned him.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I'm on the straight and narrow, sir. You put me right, I swear it. Now just... leave me be, yeah?" Riggs said apologetically.

A minute later Ralis and the others returned to Byzon in the shantytown with the gold.

"Oh! It's you- oh, it's YOU! Have you found Riggs yet?" He asked, feeling excited to hear the news.

"You won't have to worry about him anymore. Here is the gold he stole form you and your fellow refugees. I hope I can trust you to return them to their rightful owners?" Ralis replied, handing the small satchel full of gold to Byzon.

"Oh, this is wonderful- wonderful! Thank you so much, sir, you've done a great thing this night. Bless you! Bless you!" Byzon thanked Ralis and walked away to find his fellow refugees in this shantytown who have been extorted too, then Ralis and the others continued on their way to the Elfsong Tavern.

* * *

The walk there felt like it took two hours. Corwin, Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir's legs ached from walking so long, having to squeeze past so many crowds of people.

"Bloody hells. Caelar will have marched on Waterdeep by the time we get through this crowd," Corwin said.

"Talking about it won't get us there faster, Captain," Ralis told her.

"True enough. Stay close to me. These streets are dangerous at the best of times, and these aren't those," Corwin said.

20 minutes later they came close to the Elfsong Tavern.

"We aren't far from the Elfsong Tavern," Schael informed Ralis and the others. "There are two people you might want to speak with- Safana and Coran have been seen here recently. Or if you'd like to get some supplies for the journey to Dragonspear, we cam go to Sorcerous Sundries."

"I don't have any money, remember?" Ralis reminded her.

"That's right, I forgot," Corwin nodded, wanting to facepalm on a table even though there are none in the streets of Baldur's Gate. "Move aside, people. Move aside," Corwin instructed the crowd of refugees and citizens as they drew nearer to the tavern.

When Dynaheir looked over to the shop known as Sorcerous Sundries across the street from Elfsong Tavern, she saw a long line of people wanting to go in the building and buy something. The people running the shop are apparently overwhelmed by customers.

Ralis noticed that on the sidewalk near the Elfsong Tavern, three Flaming fist soldiers accompanied by a soldier of the Baldur's Gate Watch were making an arrest of a small group of refugees, but are apparently waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

"You'll wait here until we can take you all to the Flaming Fist headquarters," the Flaming Fist officer in charge named Vida said.

Taking interest in the arrest, Ralis wanted to see what is going on, and Corwin was confused at why Ralis is heading away from the Elfsong Tavern's entrance.

"This is outrageous! We haven't done anything wrong!" One of the arrested refugees, a man with a dirty dark green tunic and short black hair exclaimed.

"You lot just sit tight until backup arrives," Officer Vida sternly instructed.

"Do you require assistance? What is going on here, officer?" Ralis called.

Vida wore a helmet, so it's impossible to identify her facial features.

"These refugees came to our city for aid, then repaid our generosity by causing a commotion on the street," she informed Ralis.

"Maybe- MAYBE we got a little rough with each other. What of it? Our tempers are short and the hours pass slowly," the same refugee man who spoke earlier, named Tanorm said in defense.

"Sir, if you and your friends created a disturbance, the Flaming Fist and even the Watch are obligated to detain you," Ralis said.

"Thank you, hero. Yes, I recognize you. would you be willing to do us a favor?" Vida asked.

"I have my own agenda to worry about, but yes, I'm listening," Ralis replied.

"I haven't enough people to escort all these rowdies to headquarters. Could you go to the Flaming Fist command center and tell Jenks that Officer Vida needs reinforcements outside Elfsong Tavern?"

""Of course. I'm always happy to assist the city's defenders," Ralis agreed.

"Please, ask the Fist to show us mercy! We've lost our homes, our possessions, some of us our families to the crusade. Must we lose our freedom too?" Tanorm pleaded humbly.

"Perhaps you'll appreciate freedom a little more after you've spent a few days behind bars. Now still your redblooding tongues before I still them for you!" Vida snapped.

"Let's get going," Ralis said to Corwin, Minsc and Dynaheir and they moved on towards the Elfsong Tavern, making their way inside.

Once inside, Corwin said: "Elfsong Tavern. Little pretentious for my taste. I'll wait for you here."

"Suit yourself," Ralis said, he and Minsc and Dynaheir leaving Corwin standing near the door, crossing her arms and resting her back against the wall.

Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir headed for the bar, and Ralis saw a familiar face behind the bar. Acting as bartender for the tavern tonight is none other than its proprietor, a beautiful half-elf woman known as "Lady" Alyth Elendara. Ralis has met her before during the Iron Crisis on his first visit to Baldur's Gate, but he doubted that she would remember him even though he is now renowned as the hero of Baldur's Gate.

Just when Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir got 3 feet near the bar, they suddenly heard a man singing nearby and playing a lute, across from the bar, close to the fireplace. The man who is singing is a bard named Garrick. As far as Ralis could tell, Garrick has brown hair like he does, the only difference is his hair is a bit longer than Garrick's.

"~ _No matter what you do, I will always love you. It matters not what you say; you'll never drive me away. I sing for you this song of love-_ " Garrick sang while gently plucking the strings of his lute.

Ralis had no idea which lucky woman he is singing to, or if the woman solely exists in his song, but he soon got his answer when Alyth walked away from the bar, confronting Garrick and interrupting his song.

"I can hear you singing, Garrick," she told him.

Garrick flashed a modest smile while he slung his lute behind his back.

"There are some who like my singing, dearest Alyth," he replied.

Alyth sighed, shaking her head in disapproval. "They can like it somewhere else. Only one singer is allowed here, you know," she said then headed back to the bar.

Ralis knew exactly what she is talking about. The ghost of an elf woman who from time to time sings in the tavern, singing for a long lost man she once loved. Garrick followed her but stopped when he saw Ralis.

"Wait- I recognize you, don't I?" He asked Ralis.

"It's possible. I'm the hero of Baldur's Gate, so a lot of people recognize me even if they never met me before," Ralis shrugged.

"Ah yes! You're Ralis Rutela! Well met, sir, it is a pleasure to meet you!" Garrick exclaimed.

"Likewise," Ralis nodded.

"Please, join me for a drink," Garrick offered.

Ralis nodded and moved to another chair to allow Garrick to sit between him and Minsc.

Ralis and Garrick ordered Tanagyr's Stout Ale, and Garrick helped Ralis pay for his ale.

"Tell me your tale. What brings you here?" Garrick asked.

"Many reasons, actually. I'm looking for a good group to join me north to fight Caelar's crusade, so I'm here searching for Coran and Safana, and I heard from Duke Eltan that you are a pretty good bard. I was wondering if you could join me as well," Ralis replied.

"You mean, you're not here to hear me sing?" Garrick asked.

"As I said before, you got talent, but I'm not here to enjoy your singing talents, sadly," Ralis said.

Garrick drank his ale. "That's too bad. I fear that I cannot join you, and I fear that I cannot sing here for much longer. The Elfsong is very particular about who can and cannot sing here, as my love endlessly delights in reminding me."

"Your singing isn't bad at all," Ralis assured him.

"You are too kind. But it's not the quality of my voice that keeps me from performing here. It's tradition," Garrick said.

"Is it true an elven maid's ghost sometimes fills this place with song?" Dynaheir asked Garrick, not knowing whether it is true or not.

"It is true, more's the pity. It's her song and her song alone that patrons here are allowed to enjoy," Garrick replied.

"Then why art thou here at all?" Dynaheir questioned him.

Garrick smiled. "The answer to that is simple enough..." He pointed over at Alyth when she is busy serving drinks to other people sitting at the bar. "I am in love!" He exclaimed.

"Truly? Or is this just bard nonsense?" Ralis asked.

"Well... MY feelings are as true as any I've ever known. The object of my affections is... not as taken with me as I am taken with her," he admitted slowly.

"I'm surprised, honestly," Ralis said, though he could clearly understand why Garrick is head over heels in love with Alyth.

"I can barely fathom it myself," Garrick agreed. "Her name is Alyth. Ally, I call her. She doesn't like that, but she'll come around eventually, I'm sure."

"Coming around is one of my favorite things! It was after a glorious battle that I came around and discovered Boo, nibbling on my provisions as he anxiously waited for me to awake. That was a good day," Minsc said while chuckling at the memories.

Just then, startling both Ralis and Garrick, Alyth confronted them when they least expected it.

"If there's one matter upon which my mind will never change, it's "Ally". your insistence that it will is as unappealing as it is inexplicable," she said, holding half of her anger in check at Garrick.

"Ralis, this is Ally- I mean Alyth, Lady Alyth Elandara, owner of the Elfsong. She is the girl I spoke of earlier," Garrick said.

"I know... We've met before. When I first visited Baldur's Gate, I lost most of my gold. Alyth was generous enough to offer me a part time job here," Ralis said.

Alyth blinked in surprise. "So, Ralis, you made it. You've started out as a penniless nobody to the hero of Baldur's Gate. Very impressive," she said to Ralis.

"I can hardly believe it my self. So, is it true you are the woman he loves?" Ralis asked.

"The woman he lusts after- this week, at least," Alyth corrected him.

Garrick chuckled after drinking his ale. "You see how she teases me, Ralis? Is it any wonder I am helpless to resist her? So why are you here again? You say you are looking for Safana, Coran and me? They are upstairs, but why did you want to see me?" Garrick asked.

"Because Duke Eltan told Captain Corwin over there to tell me about your talents. I'm putting together a group that will travel with me north, and I was hoping that you would be interested in joining me. Your bardic skills might come in handy," Ralis explained.

"Oh... You couldn't choose a worse time to make such a journey, my friend. you must know of Caelar Argent's so-called crusade."

"I know of it, yes, but not enough. Assassins bearing Caelar's mark tried to cut me down- in the Ducal Palace, no less," Ralis explained.

Garrick frowned in surprise and confusion. "She tried to slay the hero of Baldur's Gate? A bold move, but a risky one. Failure would surely draw you into the conflict," he said.

"It would seem she judged the risk worth the reward, whatever it may be," Ralis said.

"Perhaps you'll get the chance to ask her. But I'm afraid you'll have to do so without me. I'm right on the verge of breaking through Alyth's facade of indifference. I cannot leave right now. But I wish you well, Ralis. It has been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope you find good fortune in the north," Garrick shook Ralis' hand.

"I wish you well too, Garrick," Ralis replied then stood up out of his chair, heading for the stairs, leaving Minsc and Dynaheir behind at the bar.

However, before Ralis could reach the stairs, Alyth stopped him.

"Hold, friend. I would have words with you. I heard you talking to that pitiful warbler Garrick-"

"Garrick doesn't look like a bad guy, give him a chance," Ralis said.

Alyth couldn't help but smile at Ralis's positive judge of character. "You are too kind- far too kind. but I'll not argue with the hero of Baldur's Gate. You saved the city once, and I gather you intend to do so again. Baldur's Gate- the Sword Coast- is in your debt. Please, take this potion. It is a sorry reward for all you've done, I know- I'd offer more were I able. But perhaps it will help you in some way- I hope it will. Fare thee well on your travels, Ralis. And thanks again," she said, handing Ralis a Potion of Speed.

"Just doing my part like the Flaming Fist," Ralis said modestly, putting the potion in his potion bag, then Alyth returned to the bar, and Ralis continued upstairs.

As soon as he came to the second floor of the tavern, he heard a woman shout:

"OUT! Get out, you vile poxy snake!"

Ralis recognized that voice as Safana's voice.

Then suddenly Coran came running out of a room, covering his head with his arms while Safana threw forks and spoons at him.

"I rue the day I heard your wretched name, you weasel!" Safana emerged from the hotel room Coran ran out from, cursing at the elf.

Coran turned around to face Safana, his long reddish hair wild and shaggy from the abuse he endured from Safana.

"I'm a weasel AND a snake? That doesn't make sense," he retorted.

"I've got a dagger, you know. Do you think I won't use it? GO! Get out of here! GET OUT OF HERE!" Safana exclaimed angrily.

Ralis guessed that Coran must have done something to make Safana mad. Either he was seeing another woman, or he accepted a gift from another woman as if they were in a romantic relationship.

Disappointed, Coran headed for the stairs. He was too depressed to notice Ralis, so he walked past him heading down the stairs. Ralis was surprised Coran didn't acknowledge him, so he tapped Coran's shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey, Coran," Ralis said.

"Do I know you?" Coran asked sullenly.

"You don't recognize me, Coran? It's me," Ralis smiled.

Coran blinked in surprise. "What is this now? Do my eyes deceive me? Could this truly be Ralis standing before me?" Coran asked in near disbelief.

"It is. I'm so glad I found you. I need your help." Ralis said.

"I'd like nothing better than to help you, Ralis... well actually, that's a lie." Coran said.

"Aw, come on, Coran, where's your love for adventure?" Ralis playfully slapped him on his left shoulder.

"Sorry, friend. There are many things I'd rather do- I believe I'll go do some of them right now. No, no, don't start, my mind is made up. I'll not be swayed by tears. Hey, it's all right. I'm sure you'll do fine without me. Here, have this gem, I, ah-hah, acquired it form a lovely elven girl- lovely and so, so quiet. Safana was furious, of course. I should never have taken the damnable thing, but it would've been impolite to refuse, wouldn't it? All right, take care. Hopefully we'll meet again soon, under brighter circumstances, " Coran said, then he continued downstairs.

Ralis stood there, holding the gem in his right hand watching Coran descend downstairs. He couldn't believe it. Coran turning down an offer for a new adventure? What happened to him? Ralis placed the gem in his pocket and headed for Safana's room. He knocked in the door a few times, and Safana didn't immediately answer, but when she did, she quicky opened the door and yelled in Ralis's face thinking he is Coran coming back to apologize.

" _Damn you to all Nine Hells, Coran, I swear I'm going to_..." Safana stopped, finally noticing that she is yelling at Ralis instead, and her mood changed. "...Oh. Hello," she greeted Ralis in a more friendly tone.

"Greetings. How does this night find you, Safana?" Ralis asked.

"It's been less than pleasant thus far, but it is improving by the second," Safana admitted.

 _Probably because I'm standing here instead of Coran_ , Ralis remarked in his mind.

"Come in, Ralis, come in. Make yourself comfortable," Safana stood aside, allowing Ralis to come in her hotel room.

The room smelled like rosemary, the two beds looked in good shape, Safana's room looks very comfortable.

"What brings you to my door?" Safana asked after she shut the door.

Ralis knew that she was hoping that he would say to see her, but she should know that he is all about business first.

"I need your help. I was hoping to get Coran's help too, but he told me he wants to sit this one out. I'll be joining a Flaming Fist caravan heading north to confront Caelar's crusade on the morrow. we could use a woman of your talents," Ralis said while he walked over to a chair in between the two beds and sat in it.

Safana took it upon herself to sit in Ralis's lap, and that made him a bit nervous and excited at the same time.

""We"? Or "you"?" Safana asked in her usual sensual tone while gently stroking his hair as if he were a puppy.

"... Which would get you to say yes?" Ralis asked with a warm smile.

Safana smiled back. "You're hurting my feelings, Ralis. But I could never say no to you. Then again, I can't think of a single thing you could ask that would make me want to."

"Welcome back to my group, Safana," Ralis said, then he stood up, holding Safana in his arms, and to his surprise, she felt a bit light in his arms even though she is roughly around his height, then he placed her back down.

"Oh, wow, you've gotten much stronger than before. Where does your strength come from?" Safana cooed.

"You know about my heritage. Now let's go, I want to get back to the Ducal Palace and get at least four hours of sleep before we go," Ralis replied.

When Ralis and Safana returned downstairs, Ralis saw an elf man wandering around aimlessly wearing spectacles on his eyes, exclaiming:

"Get away, you crazy crazemakers. Get away!"

Then Ralis saw Corwin approaching him and Safana, her eyes focused on the elf wearing the spectacles.

"It's him. The elf Duncan mentioned in his report," Corwin told Ralis.

"What?" Ralis glanced at her in confusion.

"On his return to Baldur's Gate from his scouting mission, Duncan wrote in his report about an elf wearing a set of spectacles. He spoke to that elf and learned that they are called the "spectacles of spectacle", and it has the ability to pierce the veil between planes, which means whoever wears those spectacles can see and pull creatures from a different plane of existence into ours. Duncan tried to confiscate the spectacles, but the elf got away from him. This is our second chance, Ralis. We need to get those spectacles from him before he causes any trouble with them," Corwin explained.

"All right, I'll go talk to him," Ralis said and approached the elf as he neared an occupied taproom.

"Hey," Ralis said while he tapped the elf's left shoulder.

The elf turned around and gave Ralis an odd stare.

"Whoa! Whoa," the elf said in shock and awe in an odd accent.

"Are you all right?" Ralis asked him.

"Oh, man. Are you in the sewers too?" the elf asked.

"This is a tavern," Ralis corrected him.

The elf nodded while saying: "I mean I know it's a tavern, but who put it here? So weird..."

"You think someone put a tavern in the sewers?" Ralis scratched his head feeling puzzled.

"AAH!" The elf suddenly screamed in surprise, looking away at Ralis then jumping back as if startled by something.

Ralis turned around to see what startled him and saw nothing, just a few tavern visitors minding their own business.

"Whoa, sorry, that one came RIGHT at my face. Yeah, so we're in the sewers, right? Under Waterdeep," the elf apologized, adjusting the spectacles on the bridge of his nose.

"You're way off, this is not Waterdeep," Ralis sighed.

"No, man, you're WAY off. I came down to the sewers as part of my vision quest. I just didn't, y 'know, expect to see so much," the elf replied, his odd accent making Ralis think that he is drunk.

"What exactly are you seeing?" Ralis asked.

"Aah! Yikes!" The elf jumped back, startled.

"It's these new glasses, man. They're supposed to let me see, like, who I really am. Like, inside my SOUL," the elf said, his voice deepening slightly with awe.

"Where did you get them?" Ralis asked.

"I got 'em from that giant gnome with the scales. I crashed on his couch last time I was in Sigil. ... AAAAH! But all I see is invisible monsters and ghosts and stuff. It's making me feel like, really SURROUNDED, y 'know? By my surroundings?"

"Really?" Ralis nodded in amusement.

"AAAAAAGH!" The elf yelped in fear again. "I'm starting to freak out, man," he whimpered.

"Let me take a look at them, man," Ralis said, trying to mimic the elf's odd accent.

"WHOA," the elf gasped in awe, staring directly at Ralis. "Whoa. That's like, profound, man. You're blowing my mind. Here, take 'em."

He removed the glasses from his face and handed it to Ralis.

"Thanks, man," Ralis nodded with a smile.

"Everything's so much clearer now! Maybe you're the one who should be on a vision quest. I'm laying off for a while," the elf said.

"By the way, what's your name?" Ralis asked.

"The name's Zaviak, man. Oh, and the giant gnome said the glasses can, like PULL spirits into reality a few times. So be careful! You don't want to drag a screaming modron or gith into the Prime for a hangout."

"Good to know. Thanks, Zaviak," Ralis said.

"Later, man," Zaviak replied with a wave, then headed for the exit.

Ralis placed the glasses in his hand and approached Safana and Corwin with Minsc and Dynaheir near the bar.

"Captain Corwin, allow me to introduce to you another friend of mine. This is Safana. Safana, this is Captain Schael Corwin of the Flaming Fist," Ralis said.

Safana and Corwin shook hands.

"Good to meet you, Safana. I look forward to working together," Corwin said.

"Do you now? We'll see how long that lasts," Safana said with a mischievous smirk.

"Ready to go now?" Corwin asked Ralis.

"Yes. Coran and Garrick won't be joining us, so there is no use in wasting time here," Ralis said.

"Then let's go. Stay close to me, Safana. The streets aren't safe for anyone, especially not a woman of your beauty," Corwin instructed.

Safana is clearly astonished that Corwin acknowledged how attractive she is- even Ralis couldn't believe it.

"All riiight..." Safana said slowly.

* * *

Before returning to the Ducal Palace, Ralis went to the Flaming Fist HQ and told Officer Jenks about Officer Vida needing backup outside the Elfsong Tavern and told Jenks to go easy on the refugees Vida arrested. Then Ralis, Minsc, Dynaheir, Schael and Safana returned to the Ducal Palace. Corwin showed Minsc, Dynaheir and Safana to their rooms while Ralis went to Grand Duchess Jannath's room to find out how Imoen is doing.

"Hello, Ralis. I am glad to see you well," Liia said,

"And I, you. Tell me, how fares Imoen?" Ralis replied.

"The intruders' weapons were poisoned, but Tymora smiled upon us- the poison was weak, and fatal only to the weakest of victims. Imoen's heart beats much stronger than what the intruders expected. However, it's worrisome that the palace was so easily penetrated, and to learn that Caelar's reach extends this far beyond the Winding Water," Jannath said.

"What do we know of her plans?" Ralis asked.

"Precious little. She claims herself an instrument of the gods- which gods are a matter of some debate- on a divine mission. As to what that mission is? It is is countless as the mouths that praise her- and those that curse her. I am glad we had a chance to speak before you depart. but now, I must go. There are many demands on my time. If I do not attend them, their number will only grow. Farewell," Liia said, then Ralis left her room, walking down the hall to the stairs, going up to the top floor to his room.

When Ralis reached his room, he saw Imoen standing near the bed, looking healthy and... talking to a man who wore a brown cloak with hood over his head.

When Imoen saw Ralis, she pointed at him and Ralis heard her tell the hooded man: "There he is over there."

The hooded man turned around and he slowly approached Ralis. He couldn't see the man's face under the shadows of his hood, and because of that, this mysterious man made Ralis feel a bit on edge.

"So this is the slayer of Sarevok, the hero of Baldur's Gate. How pleased I am to make your acquaintance," the hooded man said.

"W-who are you and how did you get in here?" Ralis asked, placing his hand on Albruin's handle as if trying to draw the courage to wield it.

"If it is security you desire, it would be prudent to reconsider your sleeping arrangements. I suspect the palace's weaknesses have become all too apparent to you of late," the hooded man replied.

Then the hooded man began to walk around Ralis slowly, examining him. He wanted to ask this mysterious man what he is looking for, but instead, he kept his questions to himself. After slowly walking around Ralis counter-clockwise three times, the hooded man stopped in front of him.

"Hmm. Strange. There lies within you barely a spark of divine consciousness, yet you bested your brother in blood. How? What is it that drove you to victory where so many others fell in defeat?" He asked Ralis.

"The teachings of my foster father Gorion saw me through," Ralis replied firmly with conviction.

The hooded man brought his right arm up into the shadow of his hood and rubbed his barely visible chin.

"Gorion. His death was the first step of your current journey, was it not? I wonder, what wisdom did he impart that left such an impression?" the mysterious man asked.

"He taught me to value knowledge," Ralis told the man.

"Interesting. We will see if that is enough to bear you through the trials ahead," the hooded man replied.

"Why am I of interest to you?" Ralis asked the man.

"You do not see it yet, but another crossroads in your journey lies before you- one you will reach sooner than you think. The path you choose is of interest to me. Your path could lead in many directions. You waver, unsure whether to claim credit for your deeds or to brush them aside. I can offer you clarity. But we can speak more of this in time, when I am certain that you are the one I seek."

"Are you measuring my worth or something?" Ralis asked.

The hooded man lowered his head slightly in what seemed to be a vague nod.

"Measuring it carefully and weighing it in the balance. As for who I am, suffice it to say that I am a man who has lost much, but would regain some measure of what was taken from me. That is all you need to know. I am not here to act, not yet. I am here to... evaluate. Are you worthy? Is what you carry within enough? Are YOU strong enough to overcome the challenges you shall soon face? Only the passage of time will provide us answers. I am curious to see how this plays out. I will be watching."

Ralis found his implications rather disturbing. Ralis let the man walk past him and he descended downstairs out of sight. Then he turned his attention to Imoen.

"Hey, Imoen," Ralis walked up to her and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad to see you alive and healthy," he added.

"Sorry if I don't seem excited to see you. Poison really takes a toll..." Imoen apologized.

"By the way, what was that man in the hood doing here?" Ralis asked her.

Imoen looked confused now. "You don't know him? He said he was a friend of yours."

"I don't know anybody like him," Ralis replied in denial.

"We've known some pretty strange characters, so I didn't think it was weird to let someone pop in looking for you," Imoen said.

"Look, I don't know who he is, and he is certainly no friend of mine," Ralis rebuffed her claim again.

"... Forget about him," Imoen shook her head. "We need to talk about your going to battle the crusade. I know you think you have to do this, but I am telling you you don't. Not only do you not have to do it, you shouldn't."

Ralis remained silent, looking into Imoen's serious and sincere eyes.

"I'm healing, but you need to heal too. Not just from fighting Sarevok- those are just cuts and scars- but in coming to terms with... you know. What you are. Let someone else take care of the "Shining Lady". Please," Imoen pleaded softly, her eyeballs becoming wet with tears.

"Imoen, the city is in desperate need of my help. What would you have me do?" Ralis asked incredulously.

"I'd have you tell the city to take a long walk off a short pier, that's what I'd have you do. But you won't, will you? I know that look in your eyes. I'm wasting my breath."

Ralis smiled softly. "You know me too well," he remarked.

Imoen sighed, then she turned her back on Ralis walking towards the wall ahead, and just when Ralis thought she might bump into it, she stopped and turned to look at him.

"Promise me you'll be careful. All right? I don't know what I'd do if... We've just lost too many people, you know?"

"I know, Imoen, but that's no excuse to cower and hide behind a rock or something," Ralis said.

Imoen nodded softly and smiled softly. "I'm gonna leave now. Take care of yourself, Ralis," Imoen said, then left his room going downstairs to her own room.

Ralis stripped himself out of his ankheg hide body armor, leaving it and his swords lying near the foot of his bed, put on his pajamas, jumped in his bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Once again Ralis snored loudly through the dusky morning until daylight broke. Around that time, he heard an annoying feminine voice say near his right ear:

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, Ralis. Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey."

Ralis's eyes sprung wide open, and the bright candle lights stung his eyes, so his shut them and rubbed his eyelids with his hands.

"Are you awake?" Skie asked him.

Ralis groaned. "I am now, Skie," he muttered.

When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw Skie standing near his bed in her own pajamas, her hair no longer tied to a bun, but resting on her shoulders.

"I got something to tell you," she said.

Ralis frowned. "What about?"

"I need you to keep it a secret," Skie said.

"What?" Ralis was too confused and sleepy to understand.

"You can't tell Daddy- Duke Silvershield about this," Skie said.

"Skie, I don't even know what "this" is," Ralis said in mild annoyance.

Skie now grinned widely. "I've joined the Flaming Fist!" She said, hopping up and down like a happy child.

Ralis sprung up wide awake and sober now after hearing that, then he sat up in his bed.

"Get out," he said.

"No, listen, I really have. I used a false name- Daddy would never allow me to enlist- but I'm in. I'll be marching north with you tomorrow!" Skie said happily.

But Ralis was not smiling at all. "You misunderstand. When I said "get out", I did not mean "I don't believe you", I actually meant "GET. OUT."" He said with all seriousness.

But apparently Skie didn't heed his warning. "All right, go back to sleep. I'll see you in-" Skie stopped and noticed the sunrise out the window. "Oh, I guess you don't really have time to sleep now. I'll see you soon. Remember, whatever you do, don't tell Daddy about this!" Then she left.

Ralis had conflicted feelings, joining the Flaming Fist might help her grow into a more mature woman as it did to Schael Corwin, but he didn't want to place Skie in any kind of danger. The battle against the crusaders might go badly, and he did not want Skie to be in the middle of it.

For the next few minutes, Ralis prepared himself, eating a hurried breakfast the maid had prepared for him and his companions, then he got dressed into his tunic, and then his ankheg hide body armor. By the time he clipped on his belt, making sure the scabbards holding his two swords were intact on his belt, and that he had his potion case, bags, Dead Shot longbow and quiver with 28 Arrows of Biting, Minsc, Dynaheir and Safana had already reached his room from the stairwell, waiting for him.

"Here is the hero, raring and ready to go! The early bird catches the evil worm! Ha ha! Isn't that right, Boo?" Ralis heard Minsc say while he adjusted his belt, and he barely heard Boo squeak in reply.

"Guys! I'll be with you in just a minute!" Ralis called to them, making sure he had all his weapons and equipment on his person.

"Oh ho! Sound like some miniature giant space hamster woke up on the wrong side of the ranger!" Minsc said, holding his right hand out at his left shoulder so Boo can jump into his hand.

"I got out of bed for this, and if there's one thing I'm loathe to do in a bed, it's get out of it," Safana said, in a mildly sour mood. Apparently she loved sleeping in the bed she was offered to sleep in last night.

"Hurry up, Ralis! The sooner we reach Dragonspear Castle, the sooner we shall learn whether thy father spawned Caelar, as well as thee and Sarevok," Dynaheir said impatiently.

"Hold your horses! Be there in a sec... Okay, let's go!" Ralis finally joined them and headed downstairs with them.

On the ground floor of the palace, Dukes Entar and Belt and Duchess Liia were waiting to say their farewells to Ralis and his party before they leave the palace.

"Ah, the hero arrives," Entar greeted Ralis.

"I hope you slept well, Ralis. You've a long road ahead," Liia Jannath said.

"Our prayers and hopes go with you. With your help, I'm sure we'll be able to stop the crusade before it grows any stronger," Belt said to Ralis.

"The Flaming Fist travels with you under the command of Captain Corwin and Corporal Duncan. I am sorry that Duke Eltan could not be present, but the ongoing crisis has called his attention elsewhere. Is there anything you need before you depart?" Entar asked Ralis.

"Information. What is the best route to Dragonspear Castle?" Ralis asked.

"You'll have to travel by major roads- the contingent is too large to move swiftly overland. You'll cross the Winding Water at Coast Way Crossing, then its a straight march to Dragonspear," Belt answered for Entar.

"Is there anything else?" Entar asked.

"No, Duke Silvershield," Ralis shook his head.

"May the gods look upon you with favor," Liia said.

"May Tymora smile on you, Ralis. If anyone can end this threat to the city, it is you," Belt said with faith and confidence in his voice.

"Thank you," Ralis said, then he followed his companions out the door. But before he stepped out the door, Ralis froze, forgetting to speak to Entar about something.

"Duke Silvershield..." Ralis called.

Belt and Liia had already gone, but Entar lingered when he heard Ralis call him.

"You'd better get moving. Unless there was something else?" Entar asked him.

Ralis wanted to warn Entar about Skie joining the Flaming Fist, but chose his thoughts quickly but carefully first. If he hadn't been forced outside the walls of Candlekeep, he wouldn't have become the strong and respected person he is now. If Gorion had been anything like Entar, Ralis too would have developed a strong, unhealthy desire to leave Candlekeep. If Skie remains with the Flaming Fist for a while, she might become a mature woman like Schael Corwin. There are dangers, yes, but dangers are everywhere we go no matter how protected we are. After coming to that realization, Ralis finally decided what to say.

"Uh... Your daughter made me promise not to tell you, but I can't anymore. She joined the Flaming Fist," he said while he looked back at Entar.

Entar smiled. "I know," he said.

Ralis gasped and slowly turned around. "You know?" He asked.

Entar smiled. "My dear Skie has many talents. Subtlety is not among them. Yes, I am aware of her grand plan. Bence Duncan, the man who arranged her entry into the Fist is a... friend."

"Why are you letting her go north with me anyway?" Ralis asked in confusion.

"I am not well pleased by the situation, I assure you. But Skie is a willful girl. Were I to prevent her from joining the Fist, she would find another way to challenge me- perhaps putting herself in even greater danger. As it stands, I can arrange for her protection while not APPEARING to protect her. Though I like it not, it is my hope this will prove a learning experience for her- that service to the Flaming Fist will strengthen her body, mind, and character. Perhaps Captain Corwin might serve as a role model for her," Entar replied.

"Maybe," Ralis shrugged. "If you've no problem with her coming, I guess I can't object, though I am concerned about your decision."

Entar nodded approvingly. "I appreciate your coming to me with your concerns about Skie. Please, accept this ring as a token of my gratitude," he said giving Ralis a ring. "When her brother died, Skie changed. She grew wilder... Pushed me away. I am hopeful this experience will help change her priorities," he added sullenly.

"Skie had a brother?" Ralis whispered in surprise.

Entar nodded. "His name was Eddard. One other thing. Few of those traveling with you will know Skie's true identity. She is to receive no special treatment from the Flaming Fist. You, however, know exactly who she is. I expect my daughter returned to me alive and unharmed. I am understood, I trust?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I am counting on you," Entar said before allowing Ralis to leave.

Outside the Ducal Palace, Ralis's eyes adjusted to the light morning sun while his ears registered the loud clamoring of crowds of people, both citizens of Baldur's Gate and refugees, lined up by the Flaming Fist and city watch to see their hero out the city. The sheer number of people surprised him, and what surprised him even more is that the Flaming Fist and Watch managed to keep the roads clear for them to travel.

"Look at all the people come to wish us good fortune in our travels, Boo," Minsc said in awe.

Ralis, Safana, Minsc and Dynaheir walked forward, away from the palace under the gaze and cheers of over a hundred people. Up ahead, Ralis saw Schael Corwin on her knees talking to a little girl ahead, and the girl is accompanied by an old man, who is most likely Corwin's father.

"... And you'll take care of your grandfather while I am away?" Schael asked her daughter Rohma.

"I will, Mama," Rohma replied.

"I love you very much, Rohma. You know that, right?"

"I know, Mama. I love you too," Rohma replied.

Ralis and his companions approached them.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Rohma," Corwin said almost tearfully.

Rohma turned her head to the right and she saw Ralis and his party standing there looking at them.

"Mama! Who is that? Is that the hero?" Rohma asked.

"Captain Corwin, who is this delightful child?" Ralis asked as he approached closer to them, then rubbed Rohma's smooth black hair.

"I'm not a child. I'm-" Rohma began counting with her fingers. "One-two-three-four-five-" Then she held up her right hand at Ralis. "Five years old," she said with finality.

Ralis smiled. "I stand corrected," he admitted.

"Ralis, this is my daughter, Rohma. Rohma, this is Ralis," Corwin said.

Rohma blinked in surprise, and Rlais wondered if she will faint soon, but she didn't.

"I know you. You killed Sarevok. Are you gonna kill Caelar too?" She asked.

Ralis opened his mouth to speak, but quickly reconsidered, then he felt hesitant to speak for a few seconds.

"Uh... I think your mother should answer that," he said after a ten second pause of hesitation.

Before Corwin could speak, Minsc did.

"Let Minsc take care of this," he said. Then he knelt down next to Ralis in front of Corwin and Rohma, and Rohma was impressed at how tall and muscular he is. "Little girl, in this world, there are many butts. Some are good butts, and those we shall leave unkicked. Some butts, however..."

"Lessons such as this are best left to the child's mother, Minsc," Dynaheir interrupted.

"They'll do what they have to," Corwin told her daughter, making the answer short and simple.

"Just like you?" Rohma asked.

"Exactly like that," Corwin nodded.

"Have no fear, Rohma. I'll make sure nothing happens to your mother," Ralis promised her.

"Mama doesn't need you. She can take care of herself," Rohma said to Ralis defiantly.

Safana couldn't help but smile at Rohma's confidence. "Oh, I like this little one. She has a fire in her belly," she said.

"That's right," Corwin nodded at Safana then turned her attention to Rohma. "Now give me a hug, Rohma, and go to your grandfather. Mama's got to get going."

After Rohma gave her mother a final hug, Ralis, Corwin, Safana, Minsc and Dynaheir marched further away from the palace. Ralis lagged behind, looking around. Around him are several other people he did not recognize, adventurers who have volunteered to join the fight against Caelar. A human paladin, a human mage, a gnome, five half-elves, three dwarves and... a duergar...? While Ralis was trying to figure out why a duergar is here and not underground in the Underdark with his kin, he heard the dusky skinned dwarf say:

"So this is the great _feldurkin'_ hero o' Baldur's Gate, eh? Don't look like much ter me."

Ralis snapped out of his thoughts and noticed that the duergar is looking at him too.

Ralis looked over at the woman wearing a hood over her head next to him and found her oddly familiar.

"How long must we wait? Crowds are fickle things. I know too well what can happen when the mood turns sour," the hooded woman said.

As Ralis drew closer to the duergar and mysterious woman, he said to her:

"Viconia? Viconia DeVir? Is that you?"

The duergar man's darted from Ralis to Viconia then back at Ralis in astonishment.

"What's this now? Our drow knows the hero o' Baldur's Gate?"

""Your" drow? I belong to no man, Pfaug. And cetainly not you," Viconia rebuffed him while glaring coldly at him, then she turned her attention to Ralis, her glare softening to a casual frown. "Well met, Ralis. It's been a while."

"I'll say. Where have you been? And what are you doing here?" Ralis asked.

"We're all here for the same reason. The Council o' Four put the word out lookin' fer those ready to fight this Caelar. An' we're always ready fer a fight!" Pfaug exclaimed excitedly.

Ralis shook his head. It's rather unusual for the Grand Dukes to hire a duergar and drow. Normally people would kill a drow on sight due to their evil reputation, so it is rather unusual to see a drow and duergar together, under the gaze of hundreds of people.

"The dukes must be more desperate than I thought," Ralis said.

Pfaug gnashed his teeth in anger at Ralis. "Ye like the taste o' teeth, do ye? Ye're this close to eatin' yers!" He threatened.

Ralis shook his head in derision, wondering why Viconia is with this duergar, it's completely out of her character to be here with the likes of him, unless she owes him something.

"Why are you even with this duergar, Viconia? You'd be in better company with me, like before," Ralis offered.

Viconia grinned. "Me? Join you? That would drive Pfaug mad. And drive him mad I shall."

"Huh? Wait a minute. Wait one _feldurkin'_ minute. I don't care who y' are, don't care if ye're the lord o' Hells one through nine- ye're not takin' my cleric away from me," Pfaug spat angrily at Ralis.

"She made her decision," Ralis stated.

"I told you before, Pfaug- I belong to no one," Viconia reminded him with a smug smile.

'Of all th' cheek! I'll have yer hide, y' treacherous cow!"

"I think not. This is the hero of Baldur's Gate, remember. and as you remember that, recall what happened to Sarevok. Come, Ralis. Let us leave this _iblith_ dwarf to wallow in his own filth," Viconia coolly reminded him.

Pfaug watched in astonishment and anger as Ralis walked away with Viconia to the rest of his party.

"Damn ye, hero! This ain't over! This ain't over!" Pfaug exclaimed angrily to Ralis.

The caravan arrived and Ralis, Corwin, Nederlok, Duncan, Safana, Viconia, Minsc, Dynaheir Pfaug, Rayphus and the other adventurers who volunteered to help fight the crusade followed the the organized line of 100 Flaming Fist mercenaries, 20 men in each row. Corporal Bence Duncan upon his return to the city after his scouting mission recommended sending 100 additional troops to Dragonspear Castle in his report back to Nederlok and Corwin, and 100 is what he is getting, much to Corwin's distaste about there being too few Flaming Fist soldiers to remain in Baldur's Gate and help the city watch manage the refugees. The man who led the scouting party to Dragonspear Castle and is now leading the caravan, Bence Duncan, is a middle aged, physically fit tan skinned man with well oiled but short black hair receding from his forehead, he has a thick but trimmed mustache and beard, and he wore Flaming Fist standard issue full plate body armor, but unlike any other soldier, Duncan's body armor is gold colored around the edges of the shoulder plates, and the flame and fist of the Flaming Fist emblem on his breastplate are completely yellow and gold colored rather than red and orange. And instead of carrying a longsword strapped around his waist, he carried two short swords and a dagger in their scabbards on his belt for more effective close quarters combat than a longsword can offer.

Kyrill Nederlok is a human man who has loyally served the Flaming Fist for the past twenty-three years. He is close to being 50 years old now, having short wavy brownish gold hair, a thick mustache and beard connected to his thick sideburns, and he has two swords sheathed on both sides of his belt- to his left, a rapier, and to his right, a sword that is designed to look like a mortuary sword. He joined the Flaming Fist as a freelance mercenary when the company was founded in the Year of the Saddle (1345 DR). After several years of loyal service, distinguishing himself in battle multiple times, he was promoted by Duke eltan himself to the title of marshal six years ago.

"Forward march!" Corporal Bence Duncan shouted, and the caravan marched, Ralis and his party and Corwin and more than a dozen other adventurers the Flaming Fist hired to come along and help fight the crusade following, and the cheering from the crowds intensified so much, Ralis and Dynaheir thought their eardrums would pop.

As they headed towards the northern gate out of Baldur's Gate, Ralis kept waving at the crowds, and some people among the crowds shouted words of encouragement to their hero like:

"Yay! Give 'em hells, Ralis!"

"We're with you all the way, Ralis!"

"Show Caelar what we do with her kind in the Gate!"

All of this pumped Ralis with confidence. It feels so good to have so many people cheering you on, hoping you're successful on your journey. But the feeling did not last long. Up ahead, a nobleman tried to jump into the middle of the road. This caught the Flaming Fist soldiers keeping the crowds in line off guard. They tried to stop him, but he broke free from their grasp and stood directly in front of the caravan and shouted:

"STOP! STOP! What are you doing? Cheering? Cheering for a sibling of Sarevok?" He shouted.

After his shout, the cheers slowly died down, and the caravan stopped.

"What the hells is this?" Corwin muttered, moving ahead, with Ralis following her.

"Sir! Get back in line!" A Flaming Fist soldier said as he grabbed the angry nobleman and tried to pull him back to the sidewalk, but the man would nave none of it.

"That's what they are! Sarevok and our hero are siblings! It's the truth! They found Sarevok's journal, it reveals the truth, but the Council of Four wants to keep it a secret!"

Ralis felt his heart pounding in his chest, but he kept calm on the outside.

Now the cheers completely died down. There is dead silence now.

"Is that true, Ralis? Are you a child of Bhaal?" A woman in the crowd on the sidewalk to the right asked.

"You question the hero of Baldur's Gate?" Corwin said in defense.

Ralis respected Corwin's desire to protect his reputation whether she believes he is a child of Bhaal or not, but he felt that he didn't need her protection.

"I can handle this, Corwin," he said.

Corwin didn't know what is on his mind, but she had doubts about it. "That's a bad idea," she said warily.

Ralis stepped out into the open road in plain sight of everyone and shouted as loud as he could:

"HEAR ME! people of Baldur's Gate!" He paused for a moment. "I know you suffered at Sarevok's hands! I understand your doubts, and I understand your fears, about what the future holds in store for us all, with the heretic Caelar driving good people from their homes across the Sword Coast. I walked among you all the previous night, and I have seen and heard many horrible things that give me many reasons why I must confront this "Shining Lady", this Caelar Argent." Another short pause. "I have seen Flaming Fist soldiers extorting refugees for money. I have seen refugees attack each other over a piece of bread. I have seen refugees have little choice but to relieve themselves in alleyways. I have heard your pleas for a normal life, I have heard your cries for justice, I have heard your demands to make the crusaders pay for what they have done, and I swear to you all, I shall end this threat once and for all, one way or another! FOR BALDUR'S GATE!"

Then the crowds started cheering loudly and wildly, and the man who tried to reveal Ralis's heritage to the crowd looked around, confused and somewhat bewildered, knowing his attempt to expose the hero's heritage has failed, then two Flaming Fist soldiers pulled him back to the sidewalk. The naysayer has been silenced by the crowd, but that doesn't mean he and the other people who suspect Ralis's heritage will give up revealing it, and Corwin knew that.

"Well done. Let's be on our way before some other wind turns the crowd against us," Corwin said.

Then the caravan moved on out of the gates and headed north along the trail known as the Coast Way road. Along the way, Schael Corwin and Bence Duncan had a challenging time keeping the expedition together, because the adventurers who joined the expedition besides Ralis and his party were not accustomed to Flaming Fist discipline. They had to learn hard lessons, like rationing their food and the like. The 250 mile journey to the Winding Water was also slowed down by more refugees on their way south to Baldur's Gate.

When stopped and questioned by Ralis, Nederlok, Corwin and Duncan, the fleeing refugees speak of wheat fields set aflame, granaries ransacked, and families conscripted by Caelar's crusaders. But the most strange thing Ralis and the others hear from these refugees is that their hardships are necessary in pursuit of a greater good. These strange acceptances and admiration of Caelar Argent is disconcertingly common in those she has wronged, and Ralis, Corwin, Dynaheir, Minsc and Duncan could not understand it at all. Some refugees claim that the Shining Lady is actually a prophet, doing the work of not one, but ALL goodly faiths and gods, which further confused Ralis and the others. Ralis couldn't help but wonder, is Caelar's intentions really righteous, or is she like Sarevok, blinded by her own agendas?

* * *

A few days later, somewhere north of the Winding Water, possibly somewhere in the Trollbark Forest, the mysterious hooded man, who spoke to Ralis in his bedroom, is very far ahead of the Flaming Fist caravan, having left as soon as he spoke to Ralis, and used magic spells like Dimensional Door to get far ahead of the Flaming Fist caravan more easily, and he is right now having a meeting with Caelar Argent herself. Two knights in silver and white colored uniforms and a mage stood behind him, and Caelar is flanked on her right by one of her bodyguards, a woman named Adras Ashatiel, who can be easily mistaken as an angel or avariel because of her large white wings on her back. However, she is just a plain human with magical wings on her back, not unlike the planewalking spelljammer adventurer from Waterdeep known as Jasmine, and Ashatiel and wore full plate mail armor with a longsword sheathed on the left side of her belt, and a human man with bright vanilla colored skin named Hephernaan with long platinum blond hair to Caelar's left. behind Caelar and Ashatiel and Hephernaan are a seemingly never ending single file march of crusaders, made up of humans, elves, half-elves, hobgoblins, goblins, bugbears and even gnolls! Caelar herself, like most people claim, is a slender but powerfully imposing figure.

A fairly tall 30 year old woman, standing 5'9", sporting long, shoulder length reddish hair, she wore a special head ornament with two wing shaped plates on the sides that resembles a circlet or tiara known as the "Circlet of Cynosure", providing very little protection to her head, she wore bright silver plate mail armor known as "Mail of the Hallowed Hero", that is less heavier than the common plate mail armor and has parts of it removed, revealing the soft, flexible plating mostly around her midriff and some places of her arms and legs, giving her arms and legs more flexibility and body more agility, sacrificing the protection a thicker, heavier plate mail body armor would offer, and it provides advanced protection from evil aligned creatures, and prevents Caelar from getting poisoned or catching a disease, and she has a special magically enhanced +3 longsword called that glows bright blue when she holds it in her hand called "Aster's Edge" and a special shield called "Solar Aegis" attached to her back. But her most distinguishing feature, the hooded man noted when he first met her, is her shining eyes. Her eyes have absolutely no pupils, making it hard to tell if she is looking straight at you or someone else standing next to you, and her pupil-less eyes glow bright blue, an obvious reason for why she is nicknamed the "Shining Lady".

The hooded man had examined her army for some time since he first seen them. The high ranking knights are primarily made up of men and women who fought and survived the two Dragonspear Wars, making them the most experienced fighters. The second ranked crusaders are the common folk who were drafted into service. Some civilians serve the crusade out of fear, others serve out of respect for Caelar. The third ranked crusaders are mercenaries, made up of hobgoblins, gnolls, half-orcs, and other creatures who would normally would never join a crusade unless the money is very good. He had also pondered over Caelar's heritage for some time. She can't be a pure-blooded human, the eyes of a human are supposed to have pupils in their eyes.

"... And what of your goals?" The hooded man asked Caelar.

"Many souls were lost during the Dragonspear Wars. I will see justice done and restore them to the light," Caelar replied with unwavering strength in her voice.

"Yes, quite... honorable. But what makes you think yourself capable of achieving this, Caelar Argent?" The hooded man questioned her.

Instead of waiting for an answer, the hooded man cast a spell on Caelar, a spell that would help him identify her lineage, but his spell was blocked. Caelar is somehow protected by magic spells that prevent her lineage from being discovered.

"You dare befoul my person with your magics?" Caelar scolded the hooded man, her glowing pupil-less eyes scowling at him with mild contempt.

"Blood is something to behold, not fear. Your divine heritage radiates from you- from which of your parents, mother, or father?" The hooded man asked casually.

Caelar chose not to give him an answer, so the hooded man tried casting the spell again, hoping whatever protection spell on her has probably dissipated by now. But one of her bodyguards, an the human mage, stopped the hooded man by casting Dispel Magic, disrupting his spell before he could finish casting it. And Caelar grew more irritated at the hooded man's attempts to learn her personal history.

"Enough of these games, and enough of your questions. Hephernaan, get this mage out of my sight," she said irritably and walked away.

"At once, my lady," Hephernaan, the human man with the shoulder length platinum blond hair who dispelled the hooded man's spell nodded.

He snapped his fingers and two more knights, bearing the crest of Caelar's crusade on their breastplates, a rising sun over the horizon, accosted the hooded man but did not dare grab him. The hooded man silently commended the knights for having the common sense not to put their hands on him.

Hephernaan began to walk away, but before he moved far away from earshot of the hooded man, he said to him:

"We will have words about this, scarred one."

The hooded man suppressed his growing anger.

"Perhaps," he managed to say casually before Caelar's knights escorted him away.


	4. Chapter 4 United, Yet Divided

**_"Neither blame nor praise yourself."_**

 ** _-Plutarch_**

* * *

While the expedition needs to head north to reach Dragonspear Castle, they were actually following the Coast Way road northeast towards The Troll Claws and the Coast Way bridge near there, because there is no bridge that will take them over the Winding Water directly north from Baldur's Gate, but if there were, the expedition will either have to pass through the Troll Hills and Trollbark Forest to reach Dragonspear Castle, or go around them, which will take a long time either way, besides, no one goes near Warlock's Crypt in between the Troll Hills and Trollbark Forest, not even Caelar and her crusaders, according to the reports from Corporal Duncan and his Flaming Fist scouts that the Grand Dukes have sent a few months ago. Ralis, his party, the Flaming Fist caravan and the few adventurers who are with the caravan because they have been either hired to help or volunteered to help stop Caelar's crusade have journeyed through the Fields Of The Dead for nearly three tendays, which is the name of the land between the Chionthar River and the Winding Water river because centuries ago before Amn was founded, this land was a favored battlefield for military forces from Calimshan trying to colonize and dominate lands far north, and as a result of those battles, the bones of the soldiers still litter the field both on the surface and underground, and there are cairns of the dead almost everywhere you look, so digging holes called latrines, which are meant to be used like toilets was challenging for Skie since she is the recruit assigned for that job; digging up old swords, shields and bones made her job more difficult and disgusting.

Recently this land despite its dark history has become an ideal land for farming and ranching even though their plows occasionally dig up skeletons in rusted body armor, swords, shields and other objects, but ever since Caelar's crusade started displacing farmers and ranchers north from the Winding Water, the refugees migrated south, begging farmers and ranchers in the Fields of the Dead for food, water, clothing and shelter, and soon the few farmers and ranchers who tried to help the refugees ran out of food and resources to take care of themselves and their guests, which in turn made them desperate refugees as well, and some refugees killed off the farmers and ranchers who offered to help them to have their food and resources to themselves while everyone else moved south to seek shelter in Baldur's Gate when every farmer and rancher were bled dry. Walking through the rolling hills of the Fields of the Dead is a tiresome thing for the Flaming Fist caravan, the hero of Baldur's Gate, his companions and the adventurers who were hired to help fight the crusaders. Not only did they have to ration their food supplies, but also they had to continue moving without rest for a few days, and "bathroom breaks" were restricted to only one time every three days. They seldom got more than one opportunities to rest a full night, and that really exhausted several people.

But regardless of the long and harsh journey, the expedition finally stopped and made camp just less than an hour away from the Trollclaws Ford and the Coast Way crossing bridge, which are a few miles west from The Troll Claws, a stone ridge made up of jagged hills shaped like claws a few miles east from the bridge that is a particularly dangerous area known to be populated by trolls and other beasts that have the ability to heal their wounds as quick as the eye can blink. Corwin always showed concern about the expedition's stock of fire arrows during the journey, but Ralis believed that she is simply being paranoid, believing they'll be fine as long as they are not forced to pass through The Troll Claws to reach Boareskyr Bridge. However it will be necessary to scout or forage for supplies, so it is highly recommended that scouts be sent out in large groups with not only fire arrows, but also torches. While camp was being set up, Corwin performed a roll call to make sure everyone is here and not left behind. She held a list of people who volunteered to come to the expedition, including Ralis and his party.

"Rayphus Goodtree?" Corwin called.

"Here!" A human man with a small gold plated round shield attached to his left arm and wearing plate mail body armor called out while raising his hand, helping Duncan cook some soup.

Corwin looked down at the list again.

"Pfaug Hammerlust?"

"Aye, I be here, _feldurkin_ wench," the dusky skinned Underdark dwelling dwarf replied, standing a few yards southwest from the main tent while it is being set up.

"Belegarm?"

"Here," a man walking nearby Rayphus and Duncan replied to his name being called.

"Mizhena?" Corwin called.

"Present," a woman wearing a helmet with small horns on the sides with body armor made of riveted chains replied.

"Perfect..." Corwin muttered while striking another check mark on the list of names. "Viconia DeVir?"

"I am here," Viconia replied while she was speaking to Ralis about something.

"Minsc?"

"Minsc is present, and raring to go! Including Boo!" "*Squeak, squeak!*"

Corwin shook her head at Minsc, wondering why is he bringing his hamster into a battle that might turn out very bloody, then she returned her focus back to the list. "All right... Safana?"

"I'm still here."

"Dynaheir?"

"I am present."

"Ralis Rutela?"

"Here."

"Patrescus?"

"I am here and well," a human man in black and gray colored mage robes replied as he walked over to the fireplace to check on the soup with Duncan and Raypheus.

"Thaird?"

"Aye, I be here too," a dwarf man replied while he helped the Flaming Fist soldiers set up two more tents.

"Soralis?" Corwin called out.

A human woman in purple mage robes with auburn colored hair was busy helping set up the tents, but she managed to say "Present", even though she is busy.

"Brielle?"

"Here I am."

"And Skie Goldbuckler?"

"Here!" Skie Silvershield herself exclaimed raising her hand.

 _Goldbuckler? Really?_ Ralis sighed while shaking his head slowly, appalled at Skie's choice of surnames, and wondering if she regrets her decision to join the Flaming Fist.

Corwin looked through the list and discovered that she checked everyone.

"All right. That's all of them. Everyone is accounted for," she said with satisfaction.

"Is that soup ready? I'm hungry," Belegarm called to Raypheus while he checked his stash of weapons and armor he believes the expedition might need.

Raypheus watched Duncan slowly stir a wooden spoon in the soup held in a tin pot being hung by thin iron rods over the campfire, and Raypheus savored the sweet smell of the soup with his nose, taking in the scent and exhaling softly and pleasurably.

"Smells good, doesn't it?" Duncan smiled at him.

"Ahh, yes. Reminds me of home," Raypheus replied, then he and Duncan chuckled together.

"Raypheus!" Belegarm called.

"It will be ready in a few more minutes!" Raypheus shouted.

Ralis walked through the campsite, placing his left arm on his right shoulder and flexing his right arm to make sure it hasn't gone stiff, then he placed his right arm on his left shoulder and slowly flexed his left arm to shake off the mild stiffness. His arms shouldn't feel any kind of stiffness, and he knew it, because the armor he wore, which is made out of the scales of ankhegs, provides greater protection than plate mail body armor and is very light too, so its weight shouldn't irritate his arms if worn for a long period of time. He assumed the stiffness in his arms probably has come from spending nearly three tendays of traveling with little opportunities of sleeping.

"Art thou all right, Ralis?" Dynaheir asked him.

"Huh?" Ralis looked confused at first. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, I just... I'm not used to traveling so long without sleeping and eating often. It has really pushed my body close to its limit. I'm surprised to see that you are looking healthy as usual."

Dynaheir smiled. "Thou forget that Minsc and I have traveled more than a thousand miles west to get here in the Sword Coast."

Ralis blinked in surprise. "Really? Oh of course, I've forgotten that you and Minsc come from Rashemen. That's a long way east from the Sword Coast, you know. I'm surprised that you and Minsc made it all the way over here."

"Ralis!" Corwin called as she approached them.

"What is it, Captain?" Ralis asked.

"Can I speak to you in private?" She asked Ralis.

"Uh... Sure," Ralis reluctantly said, wondering what is it about the topic that is so private.

Before Corwin could say or do anything, a Flaming fist soldier came running up from behind her.

"Captain Corwin!" He shouted.

"What is it?" Corwin turned around and asked him.

"There's a gnome in our campsite, and I don't recall having a gnome with us," the soldier said.

"A gnome? Take me to him," Corwin instructed.

"I'll come with you," Ralis said, and they both followed the soldier to the northeastern part of the campsite.

They found the gnome near Prin's tent being interrogated by three Flaming Fist soldiers. As far as Ralis could tell, the gnome is a man, he has semi long bright blue hair, blue eyebrows, green eyes and blue sideburns that cover both sides of his face, but leaving his chin completely hairless, like how there is never any hair on a halfling man's chin.

"For the third time, who are you and what are you doing here?" A Flaming Fist soldier woman asked the unidentified gnome.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I must be going, I've got no time to lose- you're blocking my progress," the gnome said almost so quickly Ralis wondered how could he not stumble over his words.

"At ease, soldiers," Corwin said to the soldiers interrogating him.

The gnome was at first confused at why the soldiers stopped interrogating him, but then he turned around and looked up at Ralis and Corwin in confusion.

"Hmm, what, mm? What? Oh, uh, hello. Uh, excuse me, but I've got to go," the gnome said, acting suspiciously jittery in Corwin and Ralis's eyes.

"We can't let you go anywhere just yet. What is your name, gnome?" Ralis asked, crossing his arms.

"I'd like to know that myself. I don't recognize you, gnome. Who are you?" Corwin asked.

"My name? Oh right, right, my name. I'm Glint. Glint "Three-Eyes" Gardenersonson. Pleased to meet you," the gnome said.

"What exactly do you do, Glint? Of all the gnomes I know, there are few who'd willingly join a military expedition," Ralis asked the gnome.

"And you don't know anymore now," Corwin said to Ralis then turned her attention to Glint. "I know everyone who signed up for this mission, and Glint Gardnerson wasn't on the list."

"GardnersonSON," Glint corrected her. "Two sons", he held up two fingers of his right hand. "Long story," he added.

"I don't give two tugs of a dead dog's tail what your name is. What are you doing here?" Corwin snapped, mildly irritated.

"Oh, all right. You've caught me. I'm not supposed to be here, not officially, at least. My mum definitely thinks I should be here, and it's usually easier to go along with her than argue," Glint explained.

"You'd rather battle armed religious zealots than argue with your mother?" Ralis couldn't understand his motivation at all no mater how hard he tried to find the plausibility of it.

"You haven't met my mother," Glint said, shaking his head slowly. "Family's very important to the Gardnersonsons. I've a number of relatives 'twixt Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep. Mum wanted me to check on them and make sure they're all right.

"A reasonable goal- one I would help you achieve, if you allow it. Join my party, and together we will help you find your family," Ralis promised.

Glint nodded in approval. "Far be it from me to say no to an offer of help. Count me in," he said.

"Glad to hear it. And my name is Ralis Rutela. This is Captain Schael Corwin," Ralis introduced themselves.

"Pleasure to meet you both. Mmm, is that chicken and vegetable soup that I smell?" Glint asked.

"Yes, it is," Corwin said.

"By the way, why are you called "Three Eyes"?" Ralis asked.

Glint smiled. "Ah, yes. Yes. An old nickname. That's how many eyes Mum said she had to keep on me to make sure I stayed out of trouble. Turns out she really needed four eyes, but that... that's a long story."

"Soup is ready!" Duncan exclaimed.

Ralis looked over his shoulder in the direction of Duncan's shout and smiled. "Speak of the devils. Right on time."

* * *

Not long afterwards, everyone grabbed a bowl and a spoon, and stood in line allowing Corproal Duncan to pour a spoonful of soup into one bowl at a time. Even the Flaming fist soldiers who are almost finished setting up the campsite took a break and ate Duncan's chicken and vegetable soup. After Duncan filled Ralis's bowl with soup, he decided to sit down on one of the half cut logs used as benches with Mizhena.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Ralis asked her.

Mizhena looked up at him, smiled softly and nodded her head in acceptance. Then Ralis sat down next to her. He lifted the spoon full of soup, brought it up to his lips and tasted it. The broth is a little hot for his tongue, so he decided to wait until the soup cools down a little. But Mizhena, however, is enjoying the soup even though it burned her tongue a little.

"So you're the hero of Baldur's Gate?" She asked after taking her first sip of her soup.

"Yes. Though in some cases I don't consider myself a hero the way everyone else sees me. I see myself as a hero with flaws," Ralis said almost sullenly.

"You are one of the most modest heroes I've ever met; and by few, I mean you're the only one I've met," Mizhena smiled approvingly, then she removed her helmet, revealing her semi short black hair, which is a little longer than Corwin's hair, and her skin is less tanned that Corwin's skin, and the way her eyes are shaped reminded him of Tamoko's eyes, a sign that this woman probably has a bit of Kozakuran ancestry mixed in her blood.

"What's your name, and are you a cleric?" Ralis asked her.

He never had a chance to get to know everyone who has joined the Flaming Fist caravan, he mostly focused on keeping up with everyone and conserving his energy for walking.

"I am Mizhena, faithful of Tempus. Praise be to the Lord of Battles!" Mizhena said proudly, then continued eating her soup.

"Mizhena? That's an unusually exotic name. I'm not sure if I've heard that name before," Ralis said.

"I created the name myself several years ago. My birth name proved unsuitable," Mizhena replied.

"Why? What was wrong with your old name?" Ralis asked, then tried to bring his spoon full of soup broth, pieces of chicken flesh and sliced carrots into his mouth and found that the broth did not scorch his tongue this time.

"When I was born, my parents thought me a boy and raised me as such. Over time, we all came to understand that I was truly a woman. I created my name from syllables of different languages. All have special meaning to me; it is the truest reflection of who I am," Mizhena explained.

Ralis realized that Mizhena is what they call a trans woman, a person who is initially thought to be male based on the appearance of the genitals during birth, but makes a transition to being female due to the individual's perspective of her gender identity with or without magical influence.

"An amusing story, though I am curious to know what your old name was, but out of respect for your sense of identity, I won't pressure you to tell me. Besides, we all should have a strong sense of our identity, understand who and what we are. I can relate to you in a few ways," Ralis said.

"Were you thought a girl when you were born?" Mizhena asked.

"No. At least, not that I know of. I was an orphan, and my foster father Gorion was fully aware that I am a boy. But, I... have been transformed into a woman once or twice before, a few tendays ago."

Mizhena raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? That is very amusing," she said.

"A few months ago, back when the Iron Throne's iron crisis scheme was still active, a wild mage friend of mine's wild surge turned me into a woman, I was absolutely terrified. The effect fortunately didn't last long. Then a couple months later I had to willingly become a woman. I had to wear a cursed belt that turned me into a woman because I was wanted for murder in Baldur's Gate, and I needed the belt to slip into the city without any Flaming Fist guards recognizing me while I tried to clear my name and expose Sarevok's schemes to the Grand Dukes."

"I've heard that before you defeated Sarevok you were accused of murdering the leaders of the Iron Throne. I had no idea you used a cursed belt to hide your identity. An intriguing strategy. I'm curious, Ralis. What were your thoughts on being a woman?" Mizhena asked.

Ralis licked his lips to taste the soup broth residue of his soup on his lips and looked up at the near noon blue sky before replying.

"I... I don't know. To be honest, I never imagined that one day I would understand how it feels to be a woman. I thought it would be a completely alien experience, you know? Having nothing 'twixt your legs and all... but even though I didn't enjoy the experience much, it didn't feel completely strange to me at all. Men, women, we both have differences and similarities, but its the differences that scare some of us, now that I stop and think about it," he said, then afterwards, he and Mizhena spoke no more, finishing their bowl of soup.

At this moment, Ralis and Mizhena noticed Patrescus approaching them.

"Well met, my friends. How does this day find you both?" He asked by way of greeting.

"I've never been better," Mizhena replied with a soft smile.

"I feel uneasy most days," Ralis replied next.

Then Patrescus sat next to Ralis.

"That's understandable. Much depends on the success of our mission. And much depends on you, hero of Baldur's Gate," he said.

Ralis didn't mind being called that, but it irritated him a bit knowing that even though he is called a hero, he is not perfect. Even the most noble heroes are capable of making mistakes, and Ralis does not consider himself a flawless hero, after killing Aldeth Sashenstar because he and his hunting group threatened the wildlife and innocent druids in the Cloakwood Forest, which in turn caused his nephew Dabron Sashenstar to hunt for his head at first. And then there is Sarevok. Ralis had to kill him to save Baldur's Gate and Amn from his insane plan to start a war and ascend to godhood from it, and Tamoko had asked Ralis to bring Sarevok back alive and help him realize the folly of his evil plan, but it didn't work out, Sarevok is dead and Tamoko has nothing left in her life to live for.

 _I don't have every right to be called a hero,_ Ralis thought. "Much depends on on every man and woman traveling with us. I'm just one of many," he said aloud.

 _He is so modest,_ Patrescus thought with a warm smile. Out loud, he replied: "You are more than a simple adventurer now; you are a symbol. People cheer your name, look to you for hope. 'Tis a great responsibility- a greater burden than I'd ever want to bear. Be vigilant. I wouldn't want anything to happen to the hero of Baldur's Gate."

Ralis nodded gratefully at him and continued eating his soup. While he did, he thought back to how much he had learned from this crusade leader Caelar Argent. According to Duncan's report, she is from Waterdeep, and her family had been known to be pious and devout members of the Order of the Aster. Caelar's uncle, Aun Argent was a paladin of the Order of the Aster before he passed away. Duncan and his scouts could not learn the cause of his death, all they learned is that he died years ago, when Caelar was nine years old. After her uncle's death, she left the Order of the Aster for some reason, and her activities prior to the formation of her crusade is a complete mystery. Apparently the priests at the Waterdeep chapelhouse harbored ill feelings towards Caelar and refused to answer Duncan's questions about her, but they didn't mind answering questions about her uncle, whom they obviously respected. It seems Caelar has done something that tarnished the reputation of her family. Duncan also claimed in his report that he heard Caelar's eyes glow with a golden light, that she very easily cuts enemies down with her majestic sword, and that she is possibly an offspring of a god. Ralis hoped that god would not be Bhaal. The thought of fighting another Bhaalspawn so soon after Sarevok made his skin crawl.

He also learned something interesting about another member of the crusade that work very closely to the Shining Lady. Caelar's closest adviser of the crusade is a priest named Hephernaan, a man more commonly known as "Revered Brother Hephernaan". Duncan claims in his report that he heard that Hephernaan claims to revere all the Faerunian gods, that neither he nor Caelar cling to one specific faith, eschewing monotheism which is very strange because it is almost unheard of for a priest to revere more than one deity. Duncan also noted in his report about Hephernaan that all he and his scouts learned from the refugees about him is that he is with Caelar at all times, and he is fairly young, mid 20's possibly, and at one meeting between him and Caelar, he constantly encouraged her to follow her "righteous vision" whenever she had doubts.

At that moment, Schael Corwin joined the three of them, breaking Ralis out of his deep thoughts.

"Camp's set, watches too. We've been marching hard, covered a lot of ground, but we've still a ways to go. Everyone could use a rest, yourself included. Tonight might be the last full night's sleep we get; we'll be in crusader territory after we cross the bridge," Corwin informed Ralis.

"A full night's sleep? That's a poor reward for how long we've been walking on our feet," Ralis replied grimly.

"Your enthusiasm is contagious, Ralis," Safana said sarcastically as she walked by.

"You want to turn back?" Corwin asked Ralis.

He couldn't believe she is asking him this. Go back to Baldur's Gate when they are less than a mile from the Winding Water, which is 250 miles away from Baldur's Gate? It is clearly apparent that the only option is to move forward to Dragonspear Castle, and Ralis has no other intention than to do just that,

"The Council of Four asked me to join this expedition. I'll not turn my back on Baldur's Gate in its hour of need," Ralis said defiantly.

"Well spoken, like a true hero," Patrescus said.

"That's the answer I was looking for. Follow me," Corwin instructed.

Ralis stood up, holding his now empty bowl and followed Corwin towards the tent where Glint is having a casual chat with Minsc, Dynaheir and Thaird.

"What do you have in mind?" Ralis asked her.

"I was going to scout the road ahead for any surprises. Care to join me? Something tells me you've had more experience in the wilds than I have."

"All right, I'll join you," Ralis agreed. "But we might need to take some backup," he added.

"I agree. We should take Glint, Viconia, Safana, Dynaheir and Minsc with us. The more there are, the safer we will be," Corwin agreed.

* * *

Minutes later, Ralis, Corwin and the rest of his party set off north following the trail towards the Coast Way bridge.

"'Tis good to be on the road again, Minsc, thou and I and our friend Ralis," Dynaheir said.

"And Boo. None of this would be possible without him!" Minsc exclaimed excitedly.

Sighing, Dynaheir nodded. "Yes, of course. How could I have forgotten Boo?" She asked sarcastically.

"It is like old times again. Action! Adventure! Smashing evil! If there be danger about, Boo and I will protect you," Minsc said, and Boo squealed in agreement.

"I have no doubt about it. And I shall try to steer thee rightly in return," Dynaheir replied.

Corwin, who is walking behind Viconia is fully aware that she is a drow, hell, everyone in the camp knows she is a drow, but they tolerate her presence and Pfaug, at least partially. She wouldn't never turn down an ally no matter their race, but she knew the drow from stories she has heard from many people, they wouldn't volunteer to do something unless there is something in it for them. Viconia must be playing some angle, because her kind generally would not volunteer to help a human militia fight a crusade unless they get something out of it.

"What are you playing at here, drow?" Corwin asked Viconia from behind.

"I'm sorry?" Viconia looked over her left shoulder back at Corwin in confusion.

"I can't figure you out. What's the draw? What do you hope to gain by helping in this effort?" Corwin asked.

Viconia shook her head. "Is it so hard to believe I might seek outcasts like myself? Looking for companionship, or even... support?"

Everyone stopped walking, and when Ralis looked at Corwin to see what her reaction to Viconia's statement is, he saw that Corwin remained skeptical.

"...It's very hard to believe," Corwin said, crossing her arms. "And that little speech doesn't make me believe it any more."

Viconia smiled, showing her teeth, which confused Corwin and everyone else.

"You are a clever woman," Viconia praised Corwin. "I begin to see why our friend tolerates you."

"Thou hast poor reasons for making this journey, drow," Dynaheir jumped in the conversation.

"There are better reasons than survival and profit?" Viconia asked the human skeptically. "I've yet to find them," she added.

"Thou'rt in the Underdark no longer. Perhaps thou should'st make more of an effort to adapt to the surface world's ways," Dynaheir suggested.

Viconia began to feel a bit irritated now. "And if I did, what would it benefit me? My skin is black, my hair white. I am drow. Nothing I do will change how surface-dwellers see me."

Dynaheir, Corwin and Ralis were disappointed that Viconia believed that. Apparently she has forgotten that another drow, Drizzt, has lived on the surface for years, and everyone who has heard of him knows that he is not like other drow, performing heroic deeds and such.

"Thou'rt wrong, Viconia. In the end, actions are what define us, not the color of our skin," Dynaheir said firmly.

"That is what you want to believe, _waela_ ( _fool)._ I have been taught differently. And I learned my lessons well."

"Uh, excuse me, if all of you are done arguing about trivial things compared to stopping Caelar's crusade, I suggest we keep moving, we are burning daylight here," Ralis said, feeling impatient.

When Viconia and Corwin turned their gaze at Ralis, he tilted his head slightly to the right and shrugged, mouthing the word "What?" to them, then everyone moved on forward.

"Why are you really here, Viconia?" Ralis asked her as he led the way.

"The same that brings me most places of late: self-preservation. The Flaming Fist has offered generous terms to those who would fight the Shining Lady- even criminals like the duergar back in camp," Viconia replied.

"That makes much more sense than what you told Corwin," Ralis said.

"My kind is not well regarded by the surface-dwellers. If I am to continue living in the Sword Coast, having the Fist indebted to me is no small thing. And you? Why have you embarked on this venture?"

"Revenge. It's a long story, so I'll tell you later," Ralis replied.

Five minutes later, Corwin came up to walk next to Ralis.

"A word, Ralis? I want to talk to you about that little speech you made before we left the Gate," she said.

"What do you mean?" Ralis asked.

"Some of the things people are saying about you concern me. Most cheer your name, it's true. But some- a very few, so far, but some... say you have committed crimes against Baldur's Gate. Some accuse you of worse than that. That you were in league with Sarevok, for instance. Some on the fringe claim you are even related."

Ralis closed his eyes slightly in disappointment and lowered his head slightly. "Regrettably, that last rumor is true. You can choose your friends, but not your family."

Corwin exhaled softly, mildly surprised. That rumor is true after all. All this time it is true. It is inevitable that the people of Baldur's Gate will learn it sooner or later.

"My father has a saying: Words comfort, but blood will tell," Corwin told him, just as he suspected.

"You think I like being a child of the Lord of Murder? I didn't choose to be a sibling to Sarevok. All I can do is try to demonstrate my own merit. If that doesn't satisfy you... Well, it'll have to satisfy you. I can do no more, and shouldn't have to."

"I want to believe you," Corwin said, feeling a bit conflicted with her feelings.

"Then believe this, if nothing else: Caelar Argent tried to kill me and my best friend, and I will pay her back in kind. If you would see the Shining Lady fall, then we are allies, regardless of our history or bloodlines."

Corwin nodded slowly. "Very well. I'll not tell anyone in the camp or anyone else about your... connection to Sarevok. Even so, take care of how you're seen by those around you. One of those people may be all that stands between you and a sword someday. And if the rumors are true, if Caelar is another child of Bhaal, that could complicate matters. Significantly."

Ralis wasn't worried at all, in fact he is determined to show Corwin that his blood has no hold over his will like it did to Sarevok.

"Your quirks begin to irritate, Ralis. You care too much for the judgment of others. It makes you weak," Viconia said disdainfully.

"What others think of me means little. I am the one who must live with the consequences of my actions. I do what I think is best for myself and the world, " Ralis shot back.

"Pretty words won't change the facts. You have it in you to achieve great things, but you won't, not while you indulge this surface-dweller "nobility"," Viconia said.

Ralis chose not to let the conversation continue on, so he remained silent and so did everyone else, watching the forests on both sides of the road for a possible ambush.

So far, for the past five minutes, there have been no ambushes, but Glint and Schael did notice smoke rising up to the sky ahead, beyond the tops of the trees, somewhere beyond the road that gently curves to the right.

"I see smoke. Yes, yes, I think that's smoke," Glint stated.

"Huh?" Ralis looked up at the sky and saw a wisp of a black cloud slowly rising up from the sky, and the only possible explanation for it is a house or building is burning beyond the curve, or a distress signal made by lost adventurers using a campfire. Ralis hoped it would not be the former.

"Do you think it could be a burning house ahead, Corwin?" Ralis asked.

"Hard to say, especially since we haven't seen it yet. We should continue on ahead with caution," Corwin replied, and the moved on, heading towards the curve in the road.

When they reached it, they managed to catch a glimpse of a burned out inn or hotel that is the source of the smoke, and they saw a man in red robes coming towards them and mumbling to himself.

"They mock me. Me! (This cannot stand. This WILL not stand!)" The man in red robes said to himself angrily.

Ralis thought he recognized the wizard, so he stopped him.

"Hey, are you all right, friend?" He asked

The man in red mage robes looked confused, turning his head left and right as if coming out of a trance and trying to get his bearings.

"Eh? What is this?" Then he looked at Ralis, still rather confused. "Where did you come from? (Careful, Odesseiron. You can trust no one.)" Even though he was whispering that last part to himself, Ralis and the others could clearly hear him, and his tendency to whisper to himself made Ralis realize who this mage is. Dynaheir, however, knew before he did.

"Edwin? Edwin Odesserion? It's been a long time since I last saw you," Ralis said, hoping Edwin does not remember the time back in the gnoll stronghold, he broke his deal with Edwin to find and kill Dynaheir for him.

Edwin blinked three times in surprise. "Wait- Ralis? What business brings you here?" Edwin asked.

Ralis was relived to know that Edwin remembers him but has forgotten what happened when they first met.

"Caelar Argent tried to kill me, and now I'm trying to kill her back. Childish, yes, but in my defense, she started it," Ralis explained.

Edwin rubbed his chin in amusement. "It seems fate has offered you to me. The Shining Lady follows me, and oyu seek to kill her. Our interests align- and should you fail, well, no harm is done, and I am as I was."

"Caelar is chasing you? Why? Is she near here?" Ralis asked.

"Thou runnest- or should I say waddlest- away from the Shining Lady?" Dynaheir cracked a joke at Edwin to spite him.

"For the love of the gods, save that filth for a chamberpot," Corwin berated Dynaheir then turned her attention to Edwin. "You, Odess... Odie... wizard. Do you know where Caelar can be found?"

"She is coiled, like a serpent waiting for prey, barely a day's journey from here across the bridge," Edwin explained.

"Caelar left some crusaders to guard the crossing bridge? Now this I've GOT to see. Thanks for the information, Edwin," Ralis thanked him.

"Hmmm. So you're off to face the Shining Lady, eh? Perhaps I shall join you." Edwin said.

"Not right now. You can stay at the Flaming Fist camp a couple hours down the road. Tell them I sent you and you won't have any trouble. I'll find you there if need be. Now begone," Ralis instructed.

Edwin huffed, but kept his anger in check. "You will regret this decision. (And when you come crawling back to me, begging Odesseiron to save you, I shall look down and whisper... no,)" Edwin said.

"You know I heard you whispering," Ralis said.

"Bah!" Edwin scoffed, moving on down the road away from everyone.

"Who was that?" Glint asked Ralis, pointing back at Edwin.

"That was Edwin Odesseiron, a bumbling, arrogant Red Wizard who thinks very highly of himself, though I doubt his own peers back in Thay respect him," Ralis explained.

"Oh. Oh, all right, I see now. See, I never met a Red Wizard before, so I wouldn't know one when I see one," Glint said.

"Really? His red robes are a dead giveaway," Corwin said to Glint.

"Oh... you definitely got a point there. Onward!" Glint exclaimed.

So they moved on down the trail, keeping a close watch for any ambushes on the sides of the road. Safana, however, was not so focused, examining the trees, birds and insects around them.

"Nature, pah. Who needs it? Twigs in my hair, bugs flying around my face. Give me a city any day," she said.

"It might be annoying at times, but nature can also be beautiful," Ralis replied even though Safana was initially talking to herself aloud.

Smiling, Safana moved ahead and walked alongside Ralis, to his left instead of right since Corwin is walking alongside him on that side.

"You think this is beautiful, hmm? Anything else in the area that catches your eye?" She asked him suggestively.

Ralis looked at her and saw her wink at him, and he understood the hint.

"Well, there's you. You're as beautiful as the daisies in the spring season," Ralis said casually, intentionally trying not to come off as a flirt, but rather an honest compliment.

Safana's smile turned into a disbelieving frown. "Is THAT the best you can do?" She asked incredulously. "I've been complimented with far more grace and authenticity. Your compliment is so pedestrian, it almost sounds like an insult."

Ralis blinked twice in confusion. "You're actually going to criticize my compliment?"

"Come back to me when you've thought of something truly complimentary to say and maybe I'll listen," Safana said, then she fell back behind Minsc and Dynaheir, then Glint and Viconia.

Ralis looked at Corwin, and she looked at him.

"Don't you say a word," Ralis warned her.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Corwin replied defensively, then they continued moving down the trail.

* * *

As they passed by the burned out inn formerly known as the Sterling Silver, they saw several people ahead of them standing near the burned building. The wood has been completely charred, filling the air with the scent of fully burnt wood, but it didn't bother the people camped out near it. There is a halfling man in a green tunic with rough shaggy sideburns sobbing, and a human man with very short black hair who is presumably his friend trying to comfort him, patting his back.

"It's gone. All gone. Nothing but ashes..." He said in between sobs.

"I understand how you feel, Takos, but what in the Nine Hells were you thinking? There were seven of them. SEVEN. What were you thinking?" Takos's friend said while consoling him.

"But I almost had 'em. If there were only three of them, I could've pulled it off," Takos told his friend while wiping tears from his face.

Ralis became curious of the situation and wanted to know what happened here.

"Hello?" He called to the two men.

Takos turned to face Ralis, his eyes still red from sobbing a lot for the past hour.

"We're closed," he managed to say casually.

"This building is absolutely gutted. What happened here?" Ralis asked the man.

"Oh, go away. I don't have the energy to talk to anyone. Let me choke on the ashes and die," Takos said mournfully.

"Takos, don't say things like that!" His friend said.

"I'll go away if you just tell me what happened here," Ralis promised.

Takos sighed, then wiped his face with a handkerchief from his shirt pocket.

"All right, I'll tell you my story if it means you'll go away. A pack of clinking crusaders got drunk and rowdy. I decided to throw them out. THEY decided to put my inn to the torch. I lost three heirlooms that meant everything to me in the fire. And my wife left me. Took the kids with her to Baldur's Gate."

"What happened to the crusaders who set your inn on fire?" Corwin asked Takos.

"We never saw them evacuate the inn. Maybe they were too drunk to get to the exit in time," Takos's friend replied for him.

"I'm sorry for your losses. I can't do anything about your inn or family, but maybe I can look around the inn for your heirlooms," Ralis said.

"I wold hold you to that, friend. I lost everything. My family, my inn, my cloak and shield, the mirror... I might have something to live for if I got them back," Takos said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"What's so special about your heirlooms?" Ralis asked.

"The mirror was my wife's. It's been in her family for generations. She told me it shows the truth of anything it reflects. The cloak was given to me as a memento of five years' service in the Beluir city watch. It's my most treasured possession. And a duke of Baldur's Gate gave me that shield as a reward for bravery. If any of these items were stolen, that one would be."

"Okay. If I find your heirlooms, I'll bring them back to you, I swear it," Ralis said.

Takos nodded. "I'll be here, sitting in the scorched ruins of my dreams," he said woefully.

Before Ralis could approach the burned out hotel, Corwin stopped him by placing her right hand on his left shoulder.

"Wait. Are you sure you want to do this? That building could collapse on you at any minute," she said.

Ralis looked at her and shrugged.

"I guess I better get moving then," he said then entered the Sterling Silver's open front door.

There are no torch or candle lights inside the building, obviously because the fires have burned everything, but sunlight streams in at certain places thanks to the roof being burned out and having holes here and there so the sun can provide some light inside the burned out hotel. Ralis headed for what used to be the part of the inn where visitors eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. The tables are burned, and so are some of the chairs. There are five rays of sunlight beaming down into the room, providing an adequate source of light. Ralis checked under each table, walking slowly, being careful not to step on a weak spot of the wooden floorboards. He checked this particular area for about a minute, and just when he was about to give up searching around the dining area of the inn, he saw a glint at the cornor of his eye.

In a hole under one of the beaming rays of sunlight, he saw something down in the hole, something shining because of the sunlight beaming down on it. Ralis crouched down on his knees, crawled over to the hole carefully and inserted his left arm down in the hole to grab whatever is down their. His hand gripped something solid. A handle of some kind. He gently pulled the object he managed to grab out of the hole and held it in the sunlight to find out what he discovered. It is a handheld mirror, usually meant for men and women to look at themselves while brushing or combing their hair. Realizing this may be one of Takos's heirlooms, Ralis placed the mirror in his pocket and continued his search.

He searched all over the ground floor for the cloak and shield, but he couldn't find them. So there is only one option left. The upper floors. Ralis felt hesitant to ascend upstairs when he placed his right foot on the first step, looking up at the stairway. He fretted that the floors upstairs may have been weakened by the fire. But its a risk he must take to find the last two heirlooms. He slowly and carefully walked up the charred stairs until he reached the second floor. There, he began to check each room systematically. The doors are wooden and therefore have been weakened by the fire. Some of them are not locked, some of them are. For those that are locked all Ralis had to do is push his strength and body weight at the door, forcing the doors to detach off their hinges which are connected to burned fragile wood, causing them to fall flat on the floor, causing soot and ash to billow up from the ground, making Ralis cough and sneeze.

Fortunately this inn only has one upper floor, which means he does not have a lot of places to search for the heirlooms. He found the cloak in a treasure chest in Takos's personal room, but he had to force the lock open because the lock had been damaged because of the fire, making it impossible to be lock-picked. Unfortunately he could not find the shield anywhere. After 2 minutes of searching, Ralis emerged and informed Takos that he has not found the shield yet, and he suspects someone might have stolen it, but he won't give up finding it, leaving Takos with only two of his heirlooms found. After Ralis and the others passed by the burned down Trollclaw Ford hotel, they could see the crossing bridge 130 yards ahead, and the crusader barrier blocking it.

* * *

At that moment, over at the bridge, a small group of crusaders made up of a few mercenaries and a few commoners who were drafted into the crusade and given basic combat training by the crusader veterans are busy at work, placing seven explosive barrels in the center of the bridge. Three orogs, led by an orog named Barachus carried some of the barrels, and a human crusader knight named Ivann and a hobgoblin named Twelve-Fingers. A half-elf woman who is a cleric of Mielikki named Seed, a dwarf woman named Kerra Tinbasher, and two more human crusader knights named Doug and Lukas kept watch of the Coast Way road for any intruders.

"So, what's the plan again?" Elwood Dowser, the only gnome in the bridge patrol party asked Seed.

Sighing in exasperation, she told him the plan.

"Let's go over this one more time. Our elites at the Sterling Silver are waiting to meet with the hero of Baldur's Gate, and when they do, they will tell him that they mean no harm, that the Shining Lady sent them with a message that she wants to meet the hero of Baldur's Gate in person, then they will escort him and and his party all the way over here," she explained to the confused gnome man.

"Then what?" Elwood asked.

"We lure him to the bridge, and then blow up the bridge after the hero crosses it so that the Flaming Fist armies won't be able to follow us back to Dragonspear Castle," Lukas said to Elwood on behalf of Seed.

"Oh... But if we destroy the bridge, we will disrupt trade between Daggerford, Waterdeep and Neverwinter with Baldur's Gate," Elwood said, hoping the backup plan won't need to be used.

"That's a sacrifice we must take. A necessary evil for a greater good," Doug reminded the gnome.

"Ey, Lukas!" Kerra called.

"Hmm? What is it?" He approached the dwarf woman, who is holding a telescope staring down at the road.

"I see a small group of people coming our way," Kerra announced.

"Is it the Flaming Fist caravan? Or is it our elites with the hero of Baldur's Gate with Ralis and his scouting party?" Doug asked.

Kerra shook her head, keeping the telescope to her right eye. "Nah, too few of 'em," she said.

Lukas scowled in confusion. "What do you mean "too few of them"? Gimme that!" He snatched the telescope out of Kerra's hands.

"Hey!"

Ignoring her, Lukas placed the small end of the telescope near his right eye, closed his left eye and peered through the lens many yards down the road. He saw a six people running down the road their way side by side, four humans, one gnome, and one drow. The man in the middle of the small group, the man wearing body armor made of ankheg scales, Lukas recognized as Ralis from the detailed information from Caelar's assassins. He scanned both sides and did not see any of the seven elite crusaders with Ralis and his party. Lukas lowered the telescope slowly, his mouth open in utter shock.

"Is that who I think it is...?" Seed asked him, clearly seeing Ralis and his party coming without needing to use the telescope.

Lukas spun around on his heel and ran for the bridge shouting: " _Ralis is here; he's here! The elites failed, they failed! Everyone fall back across the bridge, go, go!_ "

Doug reacted to Lukas's warning quicker than everyone else, he ran alongside Lukas keeping up with him while everyone else followed 19 feet behind him. Two of Barachus's fellow orogs have just placed the sixth and seventh explosive barrel on the bridge by the time Lukas and Doug reached the center of the bridge. On the other side, they saw Jayvis, a young human mage flanked by an elf woman who is an archer, and a male hobgoblin who is also an archer.

"The hero is here- on their own!" Lukas exclaimed to Jayvis and his archer bodyguards.

Hearing what Lukas had said sent Jayvis into complete panic. He knew Ralis by reputation, and he dreaded the thought of facing the hero of Baldur's Gate, he man who killed Sarevok in a fight, a fight that he knew he will most definitely not survive, and now that the possibility seems more likely, he is now terrified beyond rational thought.

"The elites failed?! Gods!" Jayvis cried in panic, then he dug into his pockets to hold a handful of sulfur, then suddenly he began casting the Fireball spell while Lukas, Doug and the three orogs are standing less than two inches from the explosive barrels!

"Wait! What are you-? No, don't!" Lukas shouted.

He and Doug tried to run the opposite direction, but it is too late. The fireball jumped out of Jayvis's hands, flew towards the explosive barrels, and upon contact, caused them to explode, engulfing Lukas, Doug and the three orogs in the blast. Kerra, Seed, Barachus, Ivann, Twelve-Fingers and Elwood were lucky, the explosion only knocked them back.

 _BOOM!_

The explosion is so massive, it caused a tremor of nearly great magnitude, knocking Ralis and his party off their feet! It is also very likely that everyone in the Flaming Fist camp felt and heard the explosion, even Caelar and her crusaders somewhere on the other side of the bridge likely heard and felt it too, even every troll living in The Troll Claws a few miles east from the crossing must be panicked by the sudden tremor.

When Ralis and his companions regained consciousness, all they heard was a faint ringing noise in their ears.

"Everyone all right?" Ralis called, to his party members, and strangely enough, his own voice sounded distant, as if he were far away from himself.

"This- this is a terrible way to treat a bridge, or any river crossing!" Minsc said.

"Thou'lt need a new way to cross the Winding Water, I believe," Dynaheir said.

Ivann looked over at the bridge and saw that it is completely blown in half, there is a 13 feet gap between both sides of the bridge!

"The crossing is down, gods damn it!" Ivann cursed.

When he turned around, he saw that Ralis and the others have entered inside the crusader barrier.

"This is our chance to prove ourselves to Caelar. She wants the hero of Baldur's Gate. Elwood, cut off their escape quickly!" Ivann exclaimed.

Then Elwood cast a magic spell called Wall of Force, creating a wall made of magical energy blocking the only way out of the crusader barrier.

"Take them! For the Shining Lady!" Seed exclaimed.

"Spread out!" Ralis exclaimed.

He and Glint, Safana and Minsc took cover behind a seven foot tall concrete wall to the right, near a banner of the crusaders emblem, to find shelter from Twelve-Fingers's arrows. Dynaheir, Viconia and Corwin took shelter behind the crusader tent. Ivann and the others stood near the broken bridge, so they had no cover to hide behind if Corwin or Ralis fired an arrow at them.

"Minsc, do your thing while Glint and I cover you," Ralis instructed the big man.

"Minsc is going to go berserk at any moment now," Dynaheir said, then Corwin and Dynaheir yelped in surprise as one of Twelve-Finger's arrows tore right through the tent's fabric, almost striking Corwin in the head and making her flinch briefly. "I'll cover him as much as I can." Corwin replied.

At that moment, Minsc came jumping out from behind the concrete wall and charged straight for Ivann and the others, screaming: "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes! RAAAGH!"

Then Glint popped out from behind the wall, with a sling and a sling bullet in his right hand, then he flung the sling at Twelve-Eyes, causing the bullet to fly at his head and smack him between the eyes, causing him to misfire his arrow!

"With FLAIR!" Glint exclaimed.

Elwood prepared to cast Hold Person on Corwin while Ivann engaged Minsc in a sword fight, and Barachus engaged Ralis an a sword fight. Corwin saw Seed and Kerra preparing to cast a spell on herself and Dynaheir, so she quaffed a Potion of Magic Resistance before they could finish casting the spell, and whatever they tried to do, Hold Person or Slow, it did not work. Ivann blocked Minsc's sword with his large rectangular shield, kneeling down on his left knee, then he thrust forward with his sword and nicked a piece of Minsc's heavy leather body armor then he moved aside. Barachus and Ralis were clashing swords, Twelve-Fingers had a massive headache from getting hit in the forehead by Glint's sling bullet, but his misery ended when Corwin put an arrow through his head.

"Hah! My aim is true!" Corwin declared triumphantly.

Ralis found an opening in Barachus's fighting style, overwhelming him by faking sword strikes and such, exhausting the orog mercenary, then driving Albruin into his heart when Barachus accidentally left himself open to be stabbed. Safana took aim at Seed with her longbow and fired an arrow, but the arrow bounced off a magical force field around Seed's body, and Safana realized that Seed had cast a spell called Protection from Normal Missiles, meaning arrows, crossbow quarrels, darts and sling bullets can't penetrate her magical shield. Dynaheir stayed behind the tent, exposing herself for a few seconds only using her sling to throw sling bullets because casting a spell at the crusaders would require her to step completely out into the open, and at the moment, she has not memorized the Stoneskin spell to toughen up her skin.

This battle went on for less than three minutes. Twelve-Fingers, Barachus and Ivann have already been slain, and meanwhile on the other side of the bridge, Hephernaan had arrived to find out what is going on. When Jayvis nervously and reluctantly told him that he panicked and destroyed the bridge far too early, Hephernaan got so angry at him, he started knocking on Jayvis's head as if it were a door.

"Curse you, Jayvis! Do you know what your cowardice has cost us this day?" He hissed at the Jayvis while the young man crouched on his knees whimpering and yelping from the throbbing pain of getting his skull knocked on by Hephernaan's hard knuckles.

Then he heard the sound of several horse hooves galloping on the ground. He and Jayvis turned around to see Caelar Argent herself riding on her horse coming their way, flanked by six of her most loyal elite ranked crusaders also riding on their own horses.

The horses stopped six feet near Hephernaan and Jayvis, and Caelar and her elite crusaders who went with her to find out what caused the explosion dismounted off of their horses and approached them.

"Hephernaan. What happened here?" Caelar asked as she approached.

Jayvis is so scared that he'll get punished severely by Caelar that he crouched down on his knees and he couldn't stop himself from sobbing.

"The hero of Baldur's Gate arrived, milady, unbound and unescorted by your elites." Then Hephernaan pointed down at weeping Jayvis. "This... MAN... panicked. He destroyed the bridge before our prey could cross."

" _Forgive me mistress, please!_ " Jayvis pleaded while he is still on his knees, his eyes and face moist with tears and mucus leaking from his nose.

"There is nothing to forgive, Jayvis. The fault is mine- I should have warned you about this possibility," Caelar consoled him.

Jayvis didn't expect Caelar to blame herself for this, but he seemed to calm down a little, though he couldn't stop himself from breathing heavily and sniveling.

"It is time this child of Bhaal and I had words," Caelar said to everyone around her, her glowing eyes focused on the damaged bridge, and through the thin smokescreen of the smoking rubble left in the wake of the crossing's destruction, she saw Ralis and his companions fighting the surviving crusaders on the other side.

She walked in between Hephernaan and Jayvis, walking along the bridge until she reached the edge where the explosion damaged the bridge, then she shouted:

"CRUSADERS, STAND DOWN!"

Seed, Elwood, and Kerra stopped fighting and so did Ralis and his party.

"I AM CAELAR ARGENT! I KNOW YOU HEAR MY WORDS, RALIS RUTELA! I WOULD SPEAK WITH YOU!"

Corwin frowned in amusement. "This is new. She's never been willing to speak to anyone representing the Council of Four before. If she'll talk to you... well, I doubt she's here to surrender, but we should hear what she has to say," Corwin whispered to Ralis.

Ralis nodded in agreement, then he approached the bridge, walking until his feet neared the edge, and now he stood face to face with Caelar standing on the other side of the damaged bridge. Ralis couldn't help noticing her strange glowing eyes. Duncan's report was right, her eyes actually do glow with a golden light- it is no metaphor at all. He has never seen anyone with glowing eyes before, though that's not entirely true, Sarevok's eyes glowed bright yellow in his deathbringer body armor, and when Ralis made the comparison, he began to suspect that rumors of Caelar being a child of Bhaal might be true after all.

"I AM RALIS RUTELA! YOU SEEK TO HAVE WORDS WITH ME, SO HERE I STAND!" Ralis said.

"And so the hero of Baldur's Gate comes for my head. Shall we speak and see what truth comes from it?" Caelar asked.

"Speak your piece," Ralis offered.

"We stand poised on the cusp of a new age," she began, spreading her arms out for a few seconds. "Someday, all of Faerun shall look to this moment and say, "Then. That was when everything changed"."

"You were what brought me here- the attempt you made on my life, the damage you've wrought across the land," Ralis said.

"I am not your enemy, Ralis... Consider for a moment the "poison" my agents sought to use against you," Caelar said.

Ralis thought back, remembering Liia telling him the nature of the poison, that it was too weak to kill a person unless that person was weak, which means Caelar's agents attacked the Ducal Palace to subdue Ralis, to take him alive, not kill him. But no, this does not make sense. Why would Caelar want him alive?

"My ears are deaf to your lies, witch. Deceive your followers if you want, but I will not be so easily manipulated," Ralis said spitefully.

"It may seem that we stand on opposite sides, but it is not so. Our goals align closer than you know, and there is much we could achieve together," Caelar said. "I am a drop of water in the river of my army. We will wash away all opposition. Return to Baldur's Gate. Tell the Council not to oppose me."

Ralis figured that now is the time to learn her true heritage, her glowing eyes make the rumor possibly true, but he wanted the whole truth, and now is the time to get it.

"Some say the blood of Bhaal runs through your veins, Caelar Argent. Is that true?" Ralis asked her.

"Nay, no child of Bhaal am I, nor any other god. I am an aasimar, descended from a Solar that blessed my bloodline generations ago. Is blood what matters to you, or the message?" Caelar replied.

An aasimar is a descendant of a person who produced a child with an angelic being from the higher planes of existence, and a Solar, which is the name of the angelic race who impregnated one of Caelar's human ancestors, or was impregnated by one of them, are tall, powerful angels with a reputation for being admirable warriors for good, righteous causes. They are so powerful that only demons who rival their power dare to face them in battle.

"Blood is not forgiveness, and there is nothing in your message that will justify the deaths that you have caused," Ralis said.

"In our lifetimes, two Dragonspear Wars have ravaged this land. Fiends set out from the castle, bringing ruin to the land and dragging thousands of innocent souls into the inferno before being beaten back for a time. Those who follow me lost wives and husbands, parents, children, friends... But what was lost can be restored. I will bring those tortured souls back to Toril," Caelar said.

"Do you really think such a thing is possible?" Ralis asked her.

"I do," Caelar nodded firmly. "And even should I fail, it is necessary. To not attempt it would be a greater crime."

"Caelar, please, stop and think rationally about this. If you could find a way into the Nine Hells and rescue those poor innocent souls, don't you think that you would be giving the fiends a way out too? If you let the demons out of the Nine Hells, we will have a third Dragonspear War on our hands!"

"Would you hesitate if one of your own were cast into the Hells, whatever their deeds? Or would the Grand Dukes be fighting you now to keep you from doing what you feel is right?" Caelar asked.

Ralis remained silent, letting her words sink in, and even though he tried not to admit it to himself, trying to see Caelar as an enemy that must be stopped, her arguments made sense from his point of view, and though he would never admit it to Caelar or anyone else, he would not hesitate if he had a chance to rescue a friend or loved one from the Nine Hells as much as she would. Although their intentions oppose each other, they are not so different from each other at all.

"Countless lives were lost as the fiends erupted from Dragonspear, a tide of hate and sulfur, ravaging the land. None could escape, there was nowhere to run- families, homes, loved ones- every soul caught in a fiend's grip at the moment of their death. But it does not end there. They are taken to the Nine Hells. Their blood boils, their skin blisters and bursts. Devils' claws rend their soul, tearing it to shreds- but they CANNOT DIE." Caelar paused there, and Ralis thought he saw a few tears fall from her glowing eyes rolling down to her cheeks for a few seconds before she closed them shut to prevent more tears from leaking out. "I hear them, Ralis. I hear the screams of the unjustly damned. And I will not turn a deaf ear."

After Caelar was done speaking, Ralis noticed that tears were falling from his eyes too. Living as homeless refugees in Baldur's Gate is one thing, but being tormented by demons in the Nine Hells for years is something equally terrible, if not slightly worse. That means the victims from the first Dragonspear War have been stuck in the Nine Hells, tormented by demons for the past twelve years, and the victims of the second Dragonspear War have likely been tormented by the denizens of the Nine Hells for the past five years. That's too much time, too much pain and torment to endure for any man, woman or child, even simply imagining their torment is horrific. If there were a way to help both the refugees of Baldur's Gate and the tormented souls from the Dragonspear Wars without the risk of letting demons come into the Prime Material realm, Ralis would gladly call Caelar an ally.

"I... I am not without sympathy for the souls of Dragonspear, Caelar..." he said, his voice almost broken with grief at first. "...But what you attempt lacks strategy, and worse, ignores what could could happen- perhaps again," he added, this time in a somewhat unwavering tone.

"You have done little to fight the calling in your own blood, and you cannot judge me for the same, Bhaalspawn. Murder beats in your heart, justice and salvation in mine. In the end, we will see which beats stronger," Caelar chastised Ralis, trying to patronize him.

"I cannot let you do this, Caelar. You've already brought harm to the living, and soon you will do the same to the dead," Ralis said.

"I regret the loss of those who stood against me, and trust that, in death, they will come to understand what I could not show them in life. I will honor their passing with the return of the Dragonspear dead. Your father was the Lord of Murder. Countless lives were stolen in his name. What if you could restore that balance- bring back those unjustly taken? Would you? Or is the call of your sire's blood too strong?"

"I do not heed the call of of my blood. My actions are my own, and I will not allow you to sway me either. If you had seen the refugees in the streets of Baldur's Gate, felt the desperation of those your crusade has displaced, you would realize the folly of your words."

"Very well. If this is your choice, then meet me at Dragonspear Castle, and we shall end this," Caelar challenged.

"Your arrogance will be your undoing, Caelar. Surrender, and you might survive what is to come," Ralis said.

Caelar raised an eyebrow. "Arrogant? I serve the gods- you serve the corrupt, the ignorant, ones consumed with territory, gold, power. Is that also your legacy, Ralis? Do you stand with them or something greater?"

Ralis chose not to reply to that question, remaining silent, but clenching his jaw.

"Only I can challenge the fiends of the Nine Hells. I must carry out my mission to its end. You and I will meet again, of this I am sure. We do not need to meet as enemies. Reconsider your course, Ralis, I beg you."

Then Caelar and Ralis turned their backs on each other at the exact same time and walked away.

"You have heard the Shining Lady's words, Ralis, you know our cause is righteous," Seed said.

"Yeah. Righteous, but reckless..." Ralis replied, though deep down he had a feeling that he is lying to himself.

"There is always room for another, Ralis. The cause could use one such as you, and with you, not even the Hells could stop us," Seed continued trying to persuade Ralis while her surviving companions walked away.

"I cannot be turned from my path any more than she can be from hers," Ralis said firmly.

"I respect that. Your sense of duty gives you strength, as it does our Lady. It is an admirable trait in these times," Seed said before leaving with her last living companions east to probably find a way to cross the Winding Water.

When Ralis looked at Viconia, he saw that she is genuinely confused, not unusual for a person who knows little about the ways of surface dwelling races.

"Viconia, Are you all right?" He asked her.

"While we drow breed poisons below, we keep them to our blades. These surface poisons... faith and righteousness... you keep them on the tongue, making every word deadly," Viconia told him.

Ralis never replied to her statement, but he understood her point on this matter. Parallel to the drow's way of living which primarily revolve around readying their weapons for acts of treachery and defending themselves against treachery, the surface dweller "poisons" she mentioned provide an alibi, a reason for people to justify their reason to fight for what they believe in, even to the extreme measure of turning against one another even when it is not necessary for them to become enemies and even if they don't wish to become enemies. In other words, Viconia pointed out that surface-dwellers like humans are as dangerous as the drow are in a different way.

 _Maybe Caelar is not the only one who should reconsider her course, but me as well,_ Ralis sullenly thought in his mind.

"So that's Caelar, huh? I thought she'd be shorter," Glint said.

Seconds later, the Sergeant Reinhardt along with two other Flaming Fist soldiers caught up with Ralis and his party.

"Ralis, are you all right? We heard an explosion," Reinhardt said.

"Better to hear it than feel it- but we'll need to find another place to cross the Winding Water," Ralis informed him.

"The bridge is down? Gods! Half of Baldur's Gate's trade came through here."

"The Council was having trouble enough dealing with Caelar's refugees. With the Coast Way impassible, the city could fall into chaos," Ralis said.

"You're right about that, but I fear there is little we can do about it," Reinhardt admitted regretfully.

"All the city's problems have Caelar as the source. We must get to Dragonspear another way," Ralis said.

"Evil has taken root in the Castle of the Dragonspear. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can pull it up by the stump!" Minsc declared.

"Boareskyr Bridge is our best bet to cross the Winding Water now, though its a tenday away. you should return to camp and talk to Corporal Duncan. He'll know the best way forward," Reinhardt said, then Ralis and his group moved on, Reinhardt and his soldiers following.

"This is handy. For me, I mean. My uncle Hoach lives near Boareskyr; this might give me a chance to check on him," Glint blurted out.

"I've got a few ideas myself. But I agree, we should talk to Corporal Duncan. Perhaps we could speak about Caelar first?" Corwin asked Ralis.

"Yes," Ralis said.

"So that was Caelar, huh? I'm beginning to understand why so many have flocked to her banner," Corwin said.

"Yeah..." Ralis nodded sullenly. "If you can ignore the suffering she has caused, she makes a compelling case for her crusade."

Corwin looked at Ralis in surprise. "You're not having doubts, are you? Caelar, certainly, she... her words can be moving, but what of Baldur's Gate? The Council?"

"I haven't forgotten about the people of Baldur's Gate, and the refugees. I do what the city needs done," Ralis quickly said, as if he were trying to hide his feelings from Corwin before she noticed them.

Corwin blinked in surprise. "I never knew you were so... devoted, Ralis," she said in awe.

"To all who matter to me, I am. I believe you would do no less for the dukes, for the city... and for your daughter, Corwin," Ralis said.

"Hmm. There may be more to you than I thought," Corwin rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Let's head back to camp. With Tymora's favor, we might make Boareskyr Bridge before the crusade sets up another ambush for us," Corwin said.


	5. Chapter 5 Dwarves of Dumathoin part 1

The walk back to the Flaming Fist camp felt longer than it normally did. Ralis and his group walked back to the camp in depression, knowing that they will have to cross troll infested territory to reach Boareskyr Bridge, the only undamaged bridge they can cross to get over the Winding Water to reach Dragonspear Castle, where Caelar and her followers are now heading off to. Ralis led his group down the trail back to the Flaming Fist campsite, and after they passed by the burned ruins of the inn, Ralis was deep in his thoughts, wondering the merits of Caelar's motives. He didn't want to admit this to Corwin or anyone else, but he wondered if it is truly necessary to fight Caelar and her crusaders. If their goals are as noble as the claim, they should ally with the Flaming Fist and the military forces from Waterdeep and Daggerford rather than forcefully drafting civilians into the crusade and displacing their families. There are other options that Caelar is not looking at.

"Walk not so close to me, _kivvil_ ( _surfacer_ )," Viconia said to Dynahair since they are walking close by each other.

"Do not distract me with such trivialities," Dynahair replied evenly to Viconia, then she directed her attention to Ralis as she approached him.

"So, the Shining Lady is not the child of Bhaal some claimed her to be," she said, coming up to Ralis's right side with Minsc following close behind her.

"Yes, but she is an aasimar- her family has been touched by the divine- though not so recently as my own," Ralis clarified.

"Though she is not of Bhaal's blood, thou art. I shall remain with you on this expedition and see how it might illuminate the prophecies of the wise Alaundo," Dynaheir replied with the usual no-nonsense look in her eyes.

"Do as thou w- uh, you will," Ralis said, trying to speak like Dynaheir for humorous effect, but retracted from that idea.

"Lead on, Ralis. I shall follow," Dynaheir gave him a soft smile.

"And Minsc and Boo will be there with you to the end of time!" Minsc proudly declared, and Boo squeaked enthusiastically with him.

Then suddenly Corwin came up to his left side and spoke to Ralis before he could reply to Minsc's words of optimism.

"Can I have a word with you, Ralis?" She asked him.

Ralis blinked twice and went "Huh?" before noticing Corwin walking beside him. "Why do you ask?"

"I simply thought that if we're to travel together, face Caelar Argent together, we might do well to get to know one another," Corwin replied, her calm voice unwavering.

Ralis nodded in agreement. "I would like nothing better, Captain. But I fear you'll not find me good company at the moment," he admitted to her.

"Let's concentrate on the mission, then," Corwin agreed with a nod. "If we can do what the Grand Dukes have asked, I'll be satisfied."

Ralis couldn't shake this feeling that Schael is hiding something from him. She is apparently good at masking her feelings behind her sense of duty as a captain of the Flaming Fist, but she is more than an instrument of the Grand Dukes' will, and Ralis knew that. She is a human, a living, breathing person with hopes and desires like everyone else.

"Is that really all you want? I think there is much more to you than duty. Tell me, what is it you're feeling. What do you desire?" He asked her.

"This isn't the time," Corwin firmly rebuffed him. "I have a mission. That's all that matters. So let's go."

The rest of their walk went on in silence, but Ralis acknowledged that he feels the same way as Corwin does. He willingly got involved in the fight against Caelar and her crusaders because of their assassination attempt on him and Imoen, despite her wishes of him not to get involved. Ralis could have agreed with her, but he didn't, he felt a sense of duty to defend the people of Baldur's Gate like Corwin would, but unlike her, he does not make any attempts to conceal his feelings. Along the way back, Ralis noticed a woman who appears to be a bard on the left side of the road singing to what looks like some kind of monolith near the forest trees. When Ralis and his group were about to walk past the bard and the stone she is singing to, his curiosity got the better of him and his group stayed on the road, being on the lookout for ambushing crusaders.

"Uh... hello? Hello?" Ralis called to her as he cautiously approached, and he finally got her attention.

"Oh, hello!" She said, pulling down the hood of her cloak revealing that she has short red hair. "Apologies for not greeting you sooner. I was a bit... distracted? My name is Prin. Didn't notice you."

"Were you singing to that rock?" Ralis pointed up at the 12 foot tall monolith.

Prin giggled in embarassment. "I probably look a little strange, don't I? This is a very unusual stone, though. It fascinates me," she said, admiring the stone once more.

"It looks old. What's that writing carved on it?" Ralis asked, pointing at the symbols carved at the base of the monolith, 3 feet close to the ground.

There is a cross shaped symbol, a symbol resembling an "s" shaped bolt of lightning, and a few others that are difficult to describe.

"I wish I could tell you," Prin shrugged at Ralis. "All I can tell you is it's not natural. I was walking the Coast Way, singing as I worked out a new song, when I heard the stone, humming!" She explained.

"I'd think it was trying to talk to you, but what would a rock have to say?" Ralis asked

"I have no idea. At first, I thought I might be going mad, but there are menhirs like this one all over this side of the crossing. They all responded to my humming. I found this one recently, and no matter what tune I sing to it, I can't get any kind of response from it," Prin said.

"Can I try singing to your menhir?" Ralis offered.

"I see no reason why not. Just go right up to it and sing," Prin suggested.

Ralis stepped a few feet closer to the menhir until he could touch it, feleing the cold, rough texture of the surface, and he heard a faint hum coming from it. He closed his eyes and hummed with the faint hum he heard. He wasn't humming a certain song in particular, just randomly humming, hoping to get some kind of response. After 9 seconds of humming, the menhir's hum grew louder to the point where Ralis's companions out on the road could hear it.

"Huh. It seems to have worked," Prin said in amusement.

Then the menhir glowed a bright whitish blue and a ghost appeared out of the glowing, humming menhir. As far as Ralis could tell, the ghost is a human man, complete with a body, arms and legs. His brown hair is cut short and high on his head, his eyes appear to be blue, but it is hard to tell be cause the transparent body of a ghost does not reflect light as a physical body would, and he wore a plain brown tunic with strings holding together the chest opening of his shirt instead of shirt buttons.

"At last, I am free! FREE!" He exclaimed proudly, stretching his arms wide victoriously while the menhir's light gradually died down and the humming faded back to a faint whisper.

"Oh great. I unleashed a ghost. Are you an evil spirit? Please don't be an evil spirit," Ralis said.

"No evil lurks in my transparent heart, I assure you. Crommus is my name. In life, I was a poor minstrel," the ghost said.

"Wow..." Prin whispered in awe.

"How did you come to be trapped, Crommus?" Ralis asked the ghost.

"Mine is a tragic tale," Crommus said, his shoulders sagging in depression. "I grew up not far south from here, in a village now turned into dust. A wealthy adventurer, Jeth Karnass, retired to the village and soon became our mayor. He had one child, a daughter- Carline (pronounced "Car-Leen"). Karnass had arranged Carline to marry the wizard Artipheon- a foul man, cruel and vicious, with the baleful gaze of a spider."

"He had eight eyes?" Prin asked, confused at the comparison Crommus made.

Crommus shook his head in shame. "Perhaps time has clouded my memory... at any rate, he was very unpleasant. He would often cut into line at the bakery and buy all the cinnamon rolls. Carline and I fell in love. She was beautiful as a spring day," he continued, his voice becoming more joyous when mentioning Carline, obviously visualizing her beauty in his mind. "She had a fondness for pinning flowers in her hair- I remember how prettily they drooped over her ear. She begged to be released from her engagement to Artipheon, but to no avail. And so she came ot me and said, "If we can't be together in life, my love, we can in death"."

"She wanted you to make a lover's pact?" Ralis asked, scratching his head both in confusion and to scratch an itchy spot.

Crommus shook his head again. "I paraphrased slightly. As I recall, her exact words were, "Father's impossible. Let's go to the coast and set up a flower shop." And so we fled. But Artipheon would not let Carline go. He pursued us, catching up to us just as we crossed the Winding paralyzed me with a spell and snatched Carline away as I watched helplessly. Then in his rage he stole my voice and shattered it, binding each fragment in the petrified tooth of a great dragon."

"W-WHAT?!" Ralis exclaimed in shock.

"These menhirs near the Winding Water are DRAGON TEETH?! They look like ordinary rock to us," Prin said in astonishment.

"Encase my voice in common stone? No. They're dragon teeth. Definitely," Crommus assured them. "Artipheon took Carline and left me to die. Since then, my spirit has wandered these woods, voiceless and alone- until now. Thanks to both of you, I can sing once more!"

"Actually, Prin did most of the work, Crommus. I hummed at the last menhir and freed you," Ralis corrected.

"And I thank both of you for that. Carline... come to me, my love," Crommus called with much joy in his voice.

Then almost immediately, a new ghost materialized next to Crommus, legs first, then waist, torso, arms and head. It is the ghost of Carline herself. Ralis and Prin saw that Crommus's memory of her beauty is entirely accurate, even as a ghost she is a great sight for sore eyes even though she wore a casual orange dress. Her face is unblemished with high cheekbones, her eyes are green, she has shoulder length brownish-gold hair with a flower that has red petals stuck in to her hair just inches above her left ear. She looked around in confusion, searching for the one who called her in the mortal plane of existence.

"What is this? Where am I?" She wondered aloud. She looked around until her eyes fell upon Crommus, then to his surprise, her confused eyes slowly turned into a hateful scowl. "Who-? You! I remember you... Artipheon! Foul one! I will destroy you! DESTROY YOU ALL!" She yelled in anger.

She attempted to throw a punch with her right arm but Crommus caught her wrist, then she tried to throw a punch with her left arm, and Crommus caught her by the wrists again.

"Carline, do you not recognize me? It is I, your love, Crommus!" He exclaimed.

Ralis decided to intervene before things get ugly. "She's confused. Spirits often are. Carline, listen to me. You had an unhappy life after you lost your lover, but now you are reunited. Look at him. You know who he is," he said.

Carline calmed down a bit and looked into Crommus's transparent face intently for a few seconds, then she completely calmed down.

"I... I remember. Crommus- it's you, I see you! Oh, Crommus my love!" She immediately embraced him in a hug.

"Carline. all these years, I longed to call you, but I couldn't- until now. Thanks to this kind stranger, we are together again," Crommus said softly.

Prin pulled out a small notebook and began to take notes.

"I wish you and Carline all the best, Crommus," Ralis said.

"If you are interested, I was buried in a barrow not far from here, in the eastern side of the forest. Seek out my grave- whatever you find there, take with my blessing. But beware- an evil presence resides nearby," Crommus told Ralis.

"Many thanks," he nodded in approval.

"May you find comfort and solace in the melodies of Milil, until we meet again. Farewell," Crommus said before he and Carline disappeared into thin air.

At that moment Ralis noticed Prin taking notes. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"This is spectacular. Crommus's story will make an epic ballad. I can't thank you enough! This song will be my crowning achievement!" She said, placing the notebook in her pocket and shaking Ralis's hand then back towards the road, heading north towards the bridge.

"Hey, wait! The bridge is gone!" Ralis called, but Prin was too excited to listen, running down the road.

"What was that all about?" Safana asked Ralis.

"Forget it, let's just get back to camp," Ralis replied.

* * *

They finally returned to the camp at highsun, and when they got there, they noticed that there is a huge commotion going on in the camp.

"I assume that they must have heard and felt the explosion," Glint stated.

"Everyone within 400 meters would hear it," Corwin said to the gnome.

Then suddenly Ralis heard a man call his name, and up ahead near the center of the campsite where Bence Duncan was speaking to seven Flaming Fist soldiers, he saw Ophyllis, with a rucksack strapped on his back, approaching them.

"Huh? Ophyllis?!" Ralis was surprised to see him.

As soon as Ophyllis called Ralis's name, Duncan and the Flaming Fist soldiers noticed them too.

"They're back!" A soldier exclaimed.

Duncan began to run towards Ralis and his companions several inches behind Ophyllis, but Duncan caught up and said to Ophyllis: "Stand aside for a moment please," then Ophyllis slowed down, allowing Duncan the chance to approach and speak to Ralis first.

We heard an explosion. What's going on?" He asked Ralis and Corwin.

"The crusade brought the bridge down," Ralis replied.

"Strike the camp, Duncan. We need to move sooner than later; let's go," Corwin instructed.

Duncan sighed, placing his hands on his waist and shook his head with worry. "It'll take us some time to break camp and scout the best way for the troops to take."

Corwin frowned incredulously. "Time? We might not have much time left Corporal."

"I agree with the captain. If they don't have Boraskyr Bridge guarded yet, we need to beat them there before they do," Ralis said.

"With all due respect Captain, Ralis, it is not that simple. We will need to journey through troll infested forests, and I doubt our hired help has had any experience in dealing with trolls. If we are to make this journey, we must make it with caution and care," Duncan said.

"So what are you suggesting?" Corwin asked while crossing her arms inquisitively.

"I suggest we let everyone rest here until tomorrow. For now, we train them on how to fight trolls and plot the best course through the forest to Boareskyr Bridge," Duncan replied.

Corwin nodded, and judging by the scowl on her face, she didn't like this plan too much, but she knew that there's no point in arguing with the corporal.

"All right. But we leave at dawn as soon as possible," Corwin said.

Safana exhaled in relief. "Finally! I can get my well deserved beauty sleep."

"Dismissed," Corwin called to Ralis's companions, and they broke away to different sections of the camp. Corwin and Duncan left too, allowing Ophyllis to approach Ralis after standing a few feet behind Duncan waiting for their conversation to finish.

"Ophyllis? What are you doing here so far from Baldur's Gate?" Ralis asked him incredulously.

"Making good on my debt to you," Ophyllis smiled a weak smile.

Ralis couldn't believe his ears.

"You have my gold?" He asked Ophyllis in surprise.

In response, Ophyllis fidgeted. "Well, I'm TRYING to make good on my debt to you. I have some gold- not all that I owe you, not yet, but I will get it, I swear."

"Calm yourself, Ophyllis," Ralis said as he placed his hands on the man's shoulders. "I'm happy to get any of the old you lost returned, no matter how insignificant the amount. I appreciate the effort you've made, coming all this way. Sincerely."

Ophyllis nodded in agreement. "Yes, well, it is rather a large piece of gold. I tried to find someone who'd offer me a fair exchange in common currency, but no luck. I could have had it melted down, but that would have taken I don't know how long."

"Had it melted down? Had what melted down? I don't understand," Ralis said with a puzzled frown.

"Well, as I say, I put the word out I was looking for gold, and a fairly large quantity of it, and actual coins are hard to come by, for obvious reasons, but an artisan by the name of Foxleigh was willing to offer me this." Ophyllis pulled the rucksack's straps off from around his shoulders, placed the rucksack on the ground, opened it, and pulled out a beautiful gold bust of a person and handed it to Ralis.

Ralis looked at the gold bust, examining the face of the person it is modeled to look like. The statue had a thick layer of hair that does not quite fully conceal the ears, and a perfectly detailed face of a young human staring forward with calm, relaxed eyes. After examining the face, Ralis realized who this person the gold bust is modeled to look like.

"This is a bust of me," he said to Ophyllis, giving him a blank, indifferent stare.

Ophyllis chuckled upon seeing Ralis's partially astonished, partially indifferent expression.  
Nice, eh? Foxleigh's made a small fortune selling them to merchants and nobles put out by the Iron Throne- between you and me, those have little brass and copper mixed in, but this one- pure gold. And it's yours."

Though Ralis was unsure of what to do with a gold bust of himself, but he appreciated the effort Ophyllis has made to redeem himself.

"I appreciate the effort you've made, Ophyllis. Consider your debt to me repaid," Ralis said to him with a warm smile.

"Oh no, no, no," Ophyllis shook his head while strapping his rucksack on his back. "Can't do that. I failed you, and I failed Grand Duke Belt. I'll not rest until I've corrected my mistake, you have my word on that. I'll go now." Ophyllis approached his horse which is standing near Raypheus's tent, then he mounted his horse. "By the time you return to Baldur's Gate, I'll have your money, if not before. You can take that to the bank, which now that I think of it would probably have been a better idea than leaving it with me."

Ralis crossed his arms, giving Ophyllis a scowl that says: "Now you tell me?", causing Ophyllis to feel a bit embarrassed giving Ralis last minute advice.

"... So yes. Going now. Farewell," Ophyllis said before urging his horse to move forward, going down the trail back towards Baldur's Gate which is more than 200 miles away from the Flaming Fist campsite.

* * *

Ralis took another look at the gold bust of himself, looking into the gold plated face resembling his own face, sighed, then moved forward into the camp, passing by dozens of Flaming Fist soldiers, he also passed by Corwin speaking to a woman who is a Flaming Fist cleric about her concern of the numerous, yet limited supply of fire arrows needed to fight off trolls. Heading towards his tent, Ralis passed by Edwin who was sitting on a small log studying his book of spells, memorizing as much of them as possible. When Ralis passed by him, he looked up, and stood up on his legs.

"Hold, Ralis," Edwin called, standing up on his feet.

Ralis turned around, then rolled his eyes upon seeing Edwin approach.

"What happened? Was that an explosion we heard?"

"Yeah. Caelar blew up the bridge before we could cross it," Ralis replied.

Edwin gritted his teeth. "She is a crafty snake, that one," he said bitterly.

"We haven't lost yet, Edwin. There is another bridge we can use," Ralis assured him.

The wizard nodded, then his eyes focused on the gold bust in the young human's arms. "What is that in your arms?" Edwin pointed at the gold bust.

"Huh? Oh, this? Uh, it's a gold bust of me. Why?" Ralis held up the gold bust briefly, then eyed Edwin suspiciously.

Edwin snorted. "Really? I see that being the hero of Baldur's Gate has inflated your ego considerably. An unexpected outcome for one who knows naught but how to wield a sword."

Ralis saw an insult coming a mile a way. He knew Edwin would try to push his buttons, so he decided to do the same back at him.

"Throwing insults so early, eh? By the tone of your voice, I'd say you're jealous that you can't command as much respect as I can," Ralis said teasingly.

Edwin frowned incredulously at the remark. "Jealous? Of you? Ha! Do not make me laugh! Being jealous of you would be like being jealous of a horde of horseflies being lured in by the stench of rotting cow pies!" Edwin his back on Ralis and began muttering to himself. "(Don't give in to anger, Edwin. He is baiting you. You are the more superior man than he is, and he is nothing more than an insignificant roach waiting to be crushed.)"

"Why in the Nine Hells to you mutter to yourself?" Ralis called, startling Edwin, causing him to face the young human again.

"Ahh! What?! I-I-I..." Edwin stammered frantically for a few seconds. "I was not talking to anyone, you simple-minded ape!" He exclaimed, his cheeks beginning to turn a little red.

Just then, Minsc stood behind Edwin.

"Evil wizard, Boo can hear your wicked whispers from a mile away. Why do you provoke our friend?"

Edwin turned around and looked up at the tall man glaring down at him, his hamster glaring at him too.

"Not you again! The witch's protector! I do not answer to you! Leave me be! Away with you!" Edwin scolded the ranger trying to shoo him away with his hands as if he were an annoying bug, but Minsc didn't budge an inch.

"You Red Wizards are all the same, thinking everyone and everything should do your bidding," Ralis sighed.

"Do not order me around, evil wizard. Unless you want Boo to go for your eyes? He loves going for the eyes of evil."

Edwin hesitated for a second, then angrily stomped his right foot down on the ground.

"Damn it!" He turned around to face Ralis. "Luckily for you, Ralis, I am willing to cooperate with you and your band of dirty apes, especially that witch, only because my vendetta lies with Caelar Argent. Our goals align for the time being, but do not think that this gives you the freedom to command me!" He exclaimed angrily before walking away, his spellbook tightly wrapped under his right arm.

"Same to you," Ralis called back.

At that moment, Duncan called everyone to form rank.

"Company! Attention!" Duncan called.

Everyone formed a line, two rows of lined up people, mostly of the adventurers the Flaming Fist hired to help fight the crusade. Most of the Flaming Fist soldiers stood at attention behind Duncan and Corwin.

Duncan cleared his throat before speaking. "Now, I am sure all of you are wondering what caused the explosion we have heard a while ago. Our hero Ralis and Captain Corwin led a scouting party to the bridge to make sure there is no ambush there. They encountered a small group of crusaders patrolling the bridge. They blew up the bridge, making it impassible."

After Duncan spoke, there were loud murmurs of concern among everyone. Ralis vaguely heard Pfaug grumbling in the duergar language, possibly about how cowardly the crusaders are. Ralis heard Skie mutter something behind him, but he couldn't clearly hear what she said.

"But we haven't lost yet!" Duncan declared, and then the murmurs died down. "We have another way of crossing the Winding Water. We must cross Boareskyr Bridge to reach Dragonspear Castle, but in order to do that, we must cross dangerous territory east from here, the Troll Claw hills, where it is well known that many trolls inhabit that area. Now I imagine that some, if not all of you have had no experience fighting trolls, so since we don't have the luxury of striking the camp and leaving immediately, I have decided to educate you all on the trolls and their weaknesses. Captain Corwin, would you do the honors?"

Corwin nodded and stepped in front of Duncan, and began pacing back and forth between him and the lined up group of adventurers.

"Trolls are tall, strong carnivorous humanoid creatures with the infamous ability to heal their wounds in less than fifteen seconds. Even if you manage cut off an arm or leg, they will grow a new arm or leg. Their quick healing ability is what makes them one of the most feared predators in Toril. But they are not invincible, they can be killed," Corwin said, raising her voice loud enough to be heard, then she snapped her fingers, signaling a Flaming Fist soldier to come up front with a medium sized crate full of fire arrows.

"In case you don't know already," Corwin continued, "the healing abilities of a troll can be neutralized by fire or acid. They cannot heal their wounds if their skin is being burned by fire or acid. This is why we brought a decent supply of fire arrows to last us a tenday should we encounter a mob of trolls on the way to Dragonspear Castle."

The Flaming Fist soldier carrying the crate of fire arrows walked away now.

"So. Are there any questions before we turn in for the night?" Corwin asked the group.

She noticed Brielle in the second row of lined up adventurers raise her hand behind Dynaheir.

"Brielle, what is it?" Corwin called.

"Um, we don't have enough fire arrows to last long enough to cross the Troll Claws, do we?" She asked, peeking around Dynaheir so Corwin can see her clearly.

Corwin didn't immediately reply to that statement, but she did reply after a four second pause. "We didn't anticipate that the crusaders would destroy the bridge, so we are partially unprepared for this. But fortunately we have a few mages that likely know a few fire and acid spells. Soralis, Dynaheir and Edwin Odieron."

"It's Edwin _Odesserion!_ Get my name right, you brainless monkey, or so help me...!" Edwin stopped himself then took a few deep breaths. "(Reserve your anger, Edwin, save it for Caelar, these monkeys are beneath your contempt...)" He whispered to himself.

"Do you always talk to yourself to remain calm?" Mizhena asked him from the other line to his left.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?!" Edwin groaned in frustration.

"What's wrong with talking to yourself? It is a good way to relieve oneself from stress. Did you know that?" Glint asked Mizhena behind him, and she shook her head.

Corwin, who was ignoring Edwin all this time said: "Very well then. Dismissed. Do whatever you need to do then get to your tents. We leave at the break of dawn tomorrow, and we will not stop and make camp for the next several nights as we head for Boareskyr Bridge. The chances of us getting waylaid by trolls will be too high once we head east."

With everyone dismissed, everyone broke rank wearily and walked off in random directions, going to their tent. Ralis headed off to his tent, which is in between Skie's tent and Bence Duncan's tent in the northwestern corner of the camp, then he stepped inside. He stripped out of his body armor, and he relished the feeling of the cool winter air breezing against his sweat soaked skin as he sat down on his bedroll. He has been sweating in his ankheg armor for a long time, so taking it off felt real good. He lay flat in his bedroll and slowly fell to sleep, thinking about Neera, apparently still heartbroken over being suddenly rejected.

"Rejection sure is painful..." Ralis muttered to himself while he closed his eyes.

* * *

Hours later after he fell asleep, he began to have a dream. This dream felt different from the ones he used to have. Very different. The dreams he used to have before he was aware that he is a child of the dead evil god Bhaal gave subtle hints and messages about that, and tested his morality. In this dream, Ralis found himself in the temple deep under Baldur's Gate where he fought and killed Sarevok. He looked around, and found that the dead bodies of Angelo, Semaj and Tazok are nowhere to be seen, and Sarevok's corpse still lay in the middle of the unholy symbol of Bhaal in the center of the room, a large grinning skull surrounded by several teardrop shaped ovals forming a circle around the skull, and his armor still had the scratch marks from Ralis's swords, and the open spot in the chest area where Ralis slashed into Sarevok's lungs. A few feet on the other side of Sarevok's corpse is the mysterious hooded man he had met in the Ducal Palace before he left Baldur's Gate.

Before Ralis could ask what is he doing here, he saw something that made him stop and stare. Sarevok is slowly rising up! Ralis couldn't believe it. He watched Sarevok slowly get up on his legs as if he hasn't stood on his legs in a long time, then he approached Ralis, stopping three feet away from him. Even though Ralis was surprised to see Sarevok be revived, he wasn't afraid of the man, he looked into Sarevok's glowing yellow eyes defiantly.

"You did not think me truly dead, did you?" Sarevok said smugly, his smile hidden behind his intimidating helmet resembling the head of a demon.

Ralis did not respond in any way.

"We've a bond between us, you and I. A connection even the sharpest blade cannot sever. A bond forged in blood, hatred, death. " Sarevok then raised his right arm up at chest level and slowly clenched his fist. "I held the Sword Coast by its throat. It wriggled and squealed in my grip, and then... YOU. I should have killed you, as I had so many others. But something stayed my hand, a weakness I had never known before."

Ralis wanted to ask what made him stay his hand, but instead he stayed silent, and Sarevok walked past him, heading for the temple's exit. Curious to know where he is going, Ralis followed him out the door and into the bright light beyond. And when the light died down, he found himself in the streets of Baldur's Gate, no longer underground! Ralis recognized this street, he and Sarevok are three blocks east from the Blade and Stars inn. Ralis saw the mysterious hooded man standing near a lamppost on the left side of the street, and Sarevok stood in front of him, facing him.

"Are we not one and the same, my brother? One soul in two bodies, born of the Lord of Murder? We will never end, you and I. Even in death," Sarevok told his younger half-brother.

Ralis sighed. While he does acknowledge that he and Sarevok have the same father but different mothers, that does not mean he should give in to his biological drive as a child of Bhaal to murder. And indeed he hated Sarevok for murdering Gorion, fooling him into killing Rieltar and the other leaders of the iron crisis and having his lackeys ruin the lives of so many people in the Sword Coast, but vengeance is an emotional response that eventually peters out like a fire that eventually dies out when it is low on fuel, like Drizzt Do'Urden himself once told Ralis before.

"The end has come and gone already, brother. I've had my fill of vengeance," Ralis rebuffed Sarevok calmly.

"Have you truly?" The hooded man asked in a skeptical, inquisitive tone, drawing Ralis's attention away from Sarevok. "In the end, vengeance is all you will have left."

The hooded man pointed a finger towards Sarevok's direction, and when Ralis turned to face Sarevok again, he didn't see Sarevok anymore. In his place was a tall, thin monstrous humanoid shaped creature with very sharp fingernails, and long, lanky legs that bend forward at knee level, making the monster appear seven feet tall instead of ten feet tall if its legs were able to stand straight up.

"Do you see now?" The hooded man asked Ralis, but the young man was too horrified to respond.

Even worse, he didn't have his swords with him. The monster that is probably Sarevok charged forward and prepared to slash at Ralis with its sharp claws! Ralis shielded his face seconds before impact, and as soon as the fingernails struck his face, Ralis immediately woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. He looked around and saw that he is in the safe confines of his tent, with the campfire dimly glowing outside. Ralis sighed and lay back in his bed, then realized that the campfire shouldn't be so dim. The Flaming Fist guards selected to guard the camp while everyone is asleep should have gotten more firewood to keep the campfire burning brightly. Ralis stood up on his feet, put on his ankheg body armor and weapons and stepped outside his tent.

The camp is quiet, except the ambient noises coming from the forests, and Ralis looked up at the sky, seeing the moon directly above the campsite, meaning it is now midnight. Ralis walked around the camp and saw that ALL of the Flaming Fist guards are asleep, especially the ones on duty to stay awake for a couple hours and guard the camp! He quickly made his way towards Schael Corwin's tent and woke her up.

"Ralis...? What is it...?" Corwin muttered, after feeling Ralis nudge her a few times.

"There's something wrong. All the guards on duty to watch the camp are asleep," Ralis whispered.

Hearing that was enough to spring Corwin wide awake.

"All right. Let me get ready," she said.

Ralis stepped out of her tent to allow Corwin to get out of her bedroll and get dressed into her armor and bring her bow, arrows and short sword with her. As soon as she stepped outside the tent, Ralis led her to the tent where the Flaming Fist keep their rations. There are three unconscious guards there scattered near the tent's entrance asleep on the ground. Without saying a word, Corwin knelt down in front of one of them, checked their necks and found some kind of dart lodged there. She carefully pulled the dart out and showed it to Ralis.

"Dart of Sleeping. Someone snuck into our camp with the intention of doing something to our rations," Corwin stated.

"Like what? Poison them?" Ralis asked.

Corwin nodded. "It's a more subtle approach than attacking us outright." Then she stepped into the tent and Ralis followed. They checked the crates full of rations and found that none of them have been tampered.

"Hmm. That's strange. No one has tampered with our rations yet," Corwin said.

"What does that mean?" Ralis asked.

"I don't know yet. Let's check the ground for footprints," Corwin suggested then they stepped back outside. Corwin knelt down and inspected the ground near the sleeping bodies of the guards, and when she didn't find any footprints, she moved further away from the ration tent with Ralis following close behind.

He couldn't help frowning in confusion at seeing the Flaming Fist captain search the ground for clues as if she were a ranger. "Huh. I didn't know you have experience as a professional tracker," he said.

Corwin looked up at him and said. "I'm a ranger. I need to _"range"._ "

Ralis snorted while trying not to laugh, initially believing her remark to be a joke, but felt uncertain that it was because Corwin never cracked a smile.

"Ah... Here we go," Corwin said finally.

"What?" Ralis knelt down next to her.

"See those footprints right there? They come towards the ration tent entrance. Judging by the size of the boot prints in the dirt, whoever wore these boots have feet too big to be a human. Probably ogre. Just before the boot prints could get within six feet from the ration tent, the boot prints become erratic in different directions, almost as if he were struggling or someone or something had startled him, then he turns around and heads back towards the woods to the west, and new boot prints over there near Duncan's tent follow after it."

"So someone has scared or wounded the ogre off, right?" Ralis asked expectantly.

"I bet on the latter," Corwin said, standing up. "If the culprit was wounded, we would see blood in the dirt.

"Okay, point made. We should follow those footprints into the woods and see if we can catch whoever is responsible," Ralis suggested.

"Yes. Let's go," Ralis said. Then he and Corwin headed off into the western parts of the woods with their longbows drawn and ready to fire at whatever comes at them from the darkness.

As they walked through the woods, Ralis couldn't help wondering how Corwin could follow the footprints without light from a torch.

"Stay with me, Ralis, and stay on guard at all times," Corwin instructed.

"Got it," Ralis whispered back, keeping his longbow lowered and his right hand on the string and tail end of the arrow and scanning the area for ambushes of any kind as they moved forward through the forest.

As he did this, he couldn't help acknowledging that he and Captain Corwin have good chemistry working as a team to find the culprit who tried to food poison the entire camp. Then his mind flashed back to the time when Corwin said that she wanted to get to know him more. He couldn't help wondering what her desires might entail. A part of him believed that she maybe wants to know him more because she is trying to warm up to the idea of having a romantic relationship with him. Even though she is a proud single mother and loyal captain of the Flaming Fist, it doesn't mean that she does not desire romantic companionship. Ralis shook the thought of having a relationship with Corwin out of his head, thinking that Neera's sudden rejection has got him desiring for romantic companionship to fill in the empty space in his heart that he felt ever since Neera broke up with him. Besides, the idea of romancing a woman who is fifteen or sixteen years older than he is didn't quite appeal to him... much.

It took them an hour to catch up to whoever made those footprints. In a small off-road clearing up ahead, Corwin and Ralis saw two men, a human and an ogre fighting a young woman close to Ralis' age. Corwin thought she recognized the young owman when her face was briefly illuminated by the moonlight when she turned around to face the human thief and parry his short sword with her own.

"Is that... Skie?" Corwin asked in disbelief.

"Huh?" Ralis was too confused to take action once he heard that, because he never knew that Skie is such a skilled fighter.

The ogre tried to hit Skie across her head with his club, but she swiftly crouched to dodge the blow, then she turned arount to shift her focus on the human assailant and grabbed his wrist in the nick of time, preventing him from bringing his sword down on her shoulder, then she brought her leg up and kicked the man in the nether regions. The man yelped, sagged to his knees and Skie quickly jammed her dagger in her left hand into his forehead and quickly turned her attention back to the ogre while the human collapsed dead to the ground. The ogre once again tried to strike her down with his mace, but she is too agile for him to hit. She crouched again, then lunged forward with her short sword and stabbed straight at the ogre's crotch, piercing the ogre's codpiece and damaging his genitals, causing him to howl like a wounded wolf and fall to his knees, giving Skie the height advantage. the ogre's howls of pain abruptly stopped when Skie brought her short sword up into the ogre's chin and stabbed the blade up into his skull, the blade could be seen piercing the inside of the ogre's open mouth, piercing through the tongue and roof of the mouth, and the upper tip of the blade emerged from the top of the skull.

"Ooh!" Ralis groaned at the brutality of how Skie ended the ogre's life.

"And THAT'S what happens when I don't get what I want," Skie angrily told the already dead ogre before she forcefully yanked her sword out of his skull, allowing him to collapse to the ground.

"Skie!" Ralis called as he and Corwin approached her.

Skie turned around while sheathing her bloodstained sword, surprised to see Ralis and Corwin coming towards her.

"Ralis? Captain Corwin? What are you doing here? Why didn't you help me fight these beasts?" She asked.

"More importantly, why are you here fighting these beasts to begin with?" Ralis asked.

"I was at the camp standing guard. BORING. Then I spotted this clod lurking around Belegarm's supply tent," Skie replied, kicking the corpse of the ogre while blood leaked from under the chin and on top of the head, messing the ground around it. "I think the oaf thought he was being stealthy, if you can believe that. He was trying to poison our rations. I snuck up behind him and gave him the scare of his life. He took off running and there was nobody nearby to stop him, so I went after him. Then I had an idea. It nearly worked too- he had no idea he was being followed. Unfortunately, his friend there knew his business. He spotted me and, well, here we are," Skie continued.

Ralis looked back at Corwin, wondering if she knows that Skie "Goldbuckler" is actually Silvershield.

"Can I request privacy please, Captain?" Ralis asked her.

"Of course," Corwin nodded and walked back into the woods, but only far enough to be out of earshot of Ralis and Skie.

"You should not have ventured out of the camp alone, Skie. You put yourself in danger," Ralis whispered to Skie sternly.

Skie was unfazed by his stern scowl. "That's what I wanted. That's why I became a part of this whole stupid expedition, so I could have a little excitement."

 _Excitement?_ Ralis echoed in his thoughts incredulously. "Military organizations avoid excitement when they can. It would be wise to do the same," he said aloud, but not loud enough for Corwin nearby to hear him.

Now Skie is visibly getting fed up with Ralis' strict lecture. "And when I get back to Baldur's Gate, what will I say to my father?" She asked.

"Ideally, you will tell him you honored his name in serving the Flaming Fist loyally and well," Ralis replied.

Skie's scowl grew a little more sharper now, and she exhaled while rolling her eyes.

"You think I honor my family doing drills and digging latrines? I'm the last living child of Entar Silvershield. I'm an adventurer! I should be having adventures!" She exclaimed defensively.

Ralis couldn't believe she said that. After learning what happened to Marl's son back in Beregost months ago, and what happened to Skie's brother from what Entar had told him before he left Baldur's Gate, Ralis knew that there are many kids with romanticized ideals of adventuring around Faerun, when the truth is being an adventurer is not entirely as fun as they think it to be.

"Please, I beg you, do not sacrifice another of Entar's children on the altar of "adventure", Skie. Far more adventurers meet your brother's fate than gain your father's fortune." Ralis pleaded.

Skie's irritated scowl then turned into a shocked expression, her eyes widening and mouth slightly dropping open. Ralis could tell at that moment that she hasn't thought about how the loss of her brother affected her parents.

"Eddard..." Skie whispered softly, her eyes becoming moist with tears. "I didn't even think of him- how my parents felt, not knowing whether he was alive or dead." She paused briefly to wipe a few tears. "Daddy wasn't trying to punish me by keeping me on the estate, was he...? He was trying to keep me safe."

"As a good father should," Ralis said with a soft nod.

"I think... I'm going back to the camp. I need some time to think about this," Skie said sullenly, a single tear fell from her left eye.

"I'll tell Corwin to escort you back," Ralis said.

* * *

As soon as Skie and Corwin left, Ralis continued on through the forest trying to find Crommus's grave site. He had been walking through the forest for the past hour, his hands on the hilts of his swords in case some carnivorous creature like a wolf or owlbear jumps out from nowhere and attacks him. His ears carefully registered every noise he heard as he wandered the forest alone, the chirping of the crickets and other ambient noises. He recalled that the last time he was alone in the woods, was on the night Sarevok killed Gorion. He was so afraid to leave the safety of the tree he had chosen to hide under as shelter from the rain, that he grew even more terrified when he heard the incoherent shrieks and growls of a nearby horde of gibberlings.

 _I should have died that night,_ Ralis thought to himself as he continued to cautiously move through the forest. _Any other unlucky bastard would have died in my shoes... But I lived. And now, here I am, walking through these woods alone, but not afraid._ He continued thinking to himself. He was proud of the irony that he is bravely walking through the woods now, regardless of the dangers it might have.

Then suddenly he heard a twig snap on the ground nearby. He froze, gripping Albruin's hilt tightly, waiting to hear some other noise among the ambience of the forest. He heard footsteps, but he had no idea which direction they are coming from. The footsteps grew louder, closer, and Ralis sensed that it is coming from behind. He quickly turned around, unsheathing Albruin in one swift motion and pointed his sword at the neck of the assailant.

"Hold, friend! I mean you no harm!" The assailant exclaimed, frozen at feeling the tip of the blade touch his neck.

Ralis recognized the assailant's voice.

"Rasaad? Rasaad, is that you?" Ralis asked as he sheathed Albruin back into its scabbard.

Rasaad stepped forward, revealing himself in the moonlight. "Oh, thank Selune, I finally found you, Ralis. It is good to see a friendly face in the wilderness."

Ralis noticed that Rasaad is carrying a rucksack on his back, likely holding a bedroll, and some food and water.

"What brings you this way? You seemed determined to stay in Baldur's Gate," he said.

"I took some time to reflect on what really matters in this world," Rasaad said. "Helping the needy is a worthy ambition, but Baldur's Gate is not where I should be right now."

Ralis frowned. "I smell a story there. What's going on, Rasaad?"

Rasaad sighed, his face filled with doubt, regret and worry for some reason. "Would that I could tell you, my friend. I am grasping at shadows, perhaps real, perhaps imagined. I will not drag you into my darkness, not until I know the truth. When my path is clear, you will be the first to know. Until then... I would join you- if you'll have me."

"How could I possibly say no to your request? You came all this way, so better late than never," Ralis smiled in relief.

Rasaad smiled in relief too. "Thank you, Ralis. I have always treasured your support, and your wisdom. I fear I may need both before long."

* * *

Ralis and Rasaad continued to wander through the forest in search of Crommus's grave site, moving past tree after tree. Two minutes have passed since they reunited, and Rasaad is already growing curious of their destination.

"Ralis, didn't you travel with the Flaming Fist? What are you doing out here in the woods alone?" He asked.

"Long story short, I followed Duke Silvershield's daughter out here, where she killed two crusaders who tried to poison our rations. And since I'm way out here, I might as well check the grave site of a spirit I just freed and see if there is anything useful the Flaming Fist might be able to use against the crusaders."

"Entar Silvershield's daughter joined the Flaming Fist?" Rasaad asked in both surprise and disbelief as he weaved past a few thin trees keeping up with Ralis.

"I know it sounds nuts that she did, but what surprised me is Entar knew she would do this and didn't stop her," Ralis explained.

"Why?"

"So she can become a mature woman like Captain Corwin, I guess. I mean, she once told me that she used to be like Skie when she was her age. Wild, rebellious, always getting into trouble in pursuit of excitement and fun," Ralis replied.

"Does anyone else know that she has joined the Flaming Fist?" Rasaad asked.

Ralis shrugged as he moved his way through the dense cluster of trees.

"Only Corporal Duncan and I know of her true identity. I don't know if Captain Corwin and Marshal Nederlok know. Everyone else thinks she is a common adventurer," he said.

Rasaad nodded, and he was about to reply until he saw something unusual ahead and touched Ralis's shoulder with his left hand and forced him to crouch down with him.

"Shh! Get down," Rasaad instructed.

Doing as he said, Ralis crouched down, with Rasaad in the darkness of the trees around them. They peered ahead and in a small clearing, there is a single red tent with a campfire lit a few feet in front of it, the light from the campfire illuminating the area in a 15 foot radius, and suspended above it is a cooking pot held a few feet above the campfire by thin metal rods, two rods anchored in the ground, and one holding the pot above the fire, possibly containing vegetable stew or something.

"Could that be a crusader camp?" Rasaad whispered to Ralis, keeping his eyes focused on the camp.

"Could be. It could belong to the two crusaders I saw Skie kill several minutes ago," Ralis whispered back.

They waited in the shadows for two minutes in silence, waiting to see who would arrive in the campsite. After waiting for that period of time, they decided to check the camp out since it seems to be recently abandoned with the campfire still burning brightly with fresh wood to consume.

"Let's go check it out. If it is a crusader camp, they must have something important worth showing to Captain Corwin, Marshal Nederlok and Corporal Duncan," Ralis said to Rasaad.

"I agree. Let us proceed with caution," Rasaad nodded.

They slowly approached the small campsite, coming closer and closer to the bright edge of the campfire's illumination circle until they walked into it, exposed by the campfire's bright light. They approached the tent, but they only managed to get two feet close to it until they heard a stern, no-nonsense woman's voice call out to them nearby.

"Stop there!"

Startled by the demand, Ralis and Rasaad quickly turned around in time to see two figures emerge from the darkness of the woods into the campfire's light. The tall woman wore full plate body armor, greaves and gauntlets, a visorless war helmet resembling a barbute, and she held a sword with a similar design to a side-sword in her right arm, and a circular shield attacked to herl eft arm. Her counterpart, the man who is named Ikros, judging by how he is dressed must be a wizard of some kind. He has short black hair, he wore gray robes with white zigzagging patterns on the sleeves, and held a quarterstaff in his hands.

"Are you living, or dead?" The woman questioned Ralis and Rasaad.

"We are more alive than you will be if you don't stop waving that sword in our faces," Ralis said assertively, believing these two are crusaders.

Ikros stepped forward, placed his hands on his partner's sword hand and gently forced her to lower her sword arm towards the ground.

"I-Isabella, please, they're clearly alive," he reasoned with her.

Isabella scowled at her partner for a second, then turned her glare of suspicion towards Ralis and Rasaad.

"Hmm... we'll see. What's your business here?" She asked them.

"We saw your camp and therefore assumed you to be followers of the Shining Lady," Rasaad explained.

"Are you followers of the Shining Lady?" Ralis asked them.

Isabella snorted in derision. "Crusaders? Feh. Do we look like we've nothing better to do than fan a madwoman's ego? No. The work we do has actual value. Right now, we hunt a vicious undead creature. Keep out of our way," she warned the two interloping men by raising her sword arm again, pointing her side-sword at them once more.

"Really, Isabella. There's no need to be rude," Ikros said, apparently appalled at her distrusting attitude, and sghe finally sheathed her sword.

"What sort of creature are you hunting?" Rasaad asked.

"We're hunting a vampire, if you must know," Isabella said in a matter-of-factly tone. "Now if you'll excuse us, we've got things to do. Push off."

"A vampire?" Ralis repeated in surprise.

"If what you say is true, you will need all the help you can get to destroy a creature that embodies darkness itself. Let us provide some assistance," Rasaad said.

Isabella looked at Ikros, he nodded at her, then she turned her attention to Ralis and Rasaad.

"All right. We'll accept your help. We have the vampire cornered. His lair is hidden in a cave a mile down this trail behind us. But he's riddled the path with traps so we can't get to him, but by the same token, his only way out is through us. We expect him to appear at any moment. You ready for a fight?" Isabella said.

"We were always ready," Ralis said with unwavering confidence.

Isabella nodded in approval. "Good. Now stay on alert, it should show up at any moment," she said.

Ralis pulled both Kondar and Albruin out of its scabbards, standing ready with Rasaadm Ikros and Isabella. They huddled around the campfire on high alert for the next seven minutes, watching the trail that goes off into the darkness directly towards the cavern where the vampire resides, and it didn't take long for one of them to realize that the vampire could appear anywhere else other than down the trail. Isabella was the first to notice, glancing towards the trees in the southwestern direction, and even though she is a human and does not have low light vision, she thought she saw a humanoid silhouette standing among the trees in the darkness many yards ahead. She squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the silhouette, and she could vaguely see the arms, torso and head of the person or creature standing completely motionless among the trees in the darkness.

"Look! There, in the trees!" Isabella exclaimed, pointing towards the southeastern direction.

Confused, Ralis, Rasaad and Ikros turned their attention that way, wondering if Isabella's eyes are playing tricks on her, until they saw the silhouette approaching them. The figure stepped into the campfire's illumination range, revealing his form. He is a pale skinned human in a old, tattered tunic, old pantaloons, old dirty boots, and eyes more red than the eyes of a drow. Everyone could tell right away that this man is a vampire because the campfire did not cast a shadow behind him, almost as if he is an illusion even though they can clearly see him. The man smiled briefly, showing his sharp fangs.

"Ah, hunters. More of you this time," he said in a thick accent, noticing Ralis and Rasaad.

"Your days of slaughtering innocents are over!" Isabella exclaimed, pointing her sword at him.

The vampire smiled again. "And that one there, he's agreed to kill me without knowing so much as my name?" He asked, pointing directly at Ralis.

Ralis took a couple steps backwards, clearly surprised. Why did this vampire take notice of him, of all people? However, he realized that is a question that will never be answered, probably, so he might as well humor the vile creature.

"Oh, by all means, let's introduce ourselves before the stabbing begins," Ralis said with mild sarcasm.

"My name is Tsolak," the vampire bowed respectfully at Ralis in response. "though that is of little consequence. What matters is that I've done no harm to these fanatics so bent on my destruction. I ask you, is this right?"

Ralis knew that the vampire is trying to appeal to his morals. While it is possibly true that Tsolak has never provoked Isabella and Ikros, it does not mean he has never sucked the blood of an innocent person in the past.

"Enough talk!" Isabella snapped impatiently. "Kill the monster- now!" She ordered to Ralis and Rasaad.

"Hold on. Let him speak, Isabella," Ralis said.

She glared at him briefly, but nodded. "If he has to speak, make him speak quickly."

Ralis nodded at Isabella gratefully and turned his attention to Tsolak. "What is your purpose here?" He asked him.

"My name is Tsolak, and I've done nothing to these hunters. I'm on a critical mission and can't be delayed."

"What mission is that?" Rasaad asked the vampire.

"I'm forbidden from revealing the details, but I've been on the road for some time now. I must reach Amn," Tsolak said.

"Even if you did nothing to these hunters, you must have killed many people in order to feed," Ralis said.

"I am what I am, but even a creature such as I can serve a purpose in this world," Tsolak said shamelessly. "Let me pass and you will be richly rewarded by my master."

"Who is your master?" Ralis asked the vampire.

"Again, I cannot say, but I assure you he is very wealthy."

"I am not interested in wealth, and I cannot let you feed on innocent lives on your way to Amn. You must die here and now," Ralis said.

"Then I will drain you dry and use your corpses as cordwood!" Tsolak hissed like an angry cat, baring his teeth and crouching slightly in preparation to pounce.

But he didn't jump at Ralis and the others, instead, he threw his head up, looking upwards at the sky and howled loudly like a wolf. Hearing Tsolak's howl sent chills up and down Ralis and Rasaad's spines, especially when they heard the not-so-distant howls of wolves respond to Tsolak.

"What is he doing?" Rasaad asked Isabella and Ikros.

"He is calling wolves for reinforcements! Finish him quickly!" Ikros replied.

Ralis, Isabella and Rasaad charged at Tsolak while Ikros cast a magic missile at the vampire, the bright ball of arcane energy flew past Rasaad, Isabella and Ralis and hit Tsolak directly in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and causing him to stagger back a few inches. He managed to dodge Ralis' opening attack, dodging aside, then he saw Isabella coming immediately after and kicked out at her with his right leg, but Isabella used her shield to protect herself from the blow, but since vampires are stronger than they look, his kick had more power than Isabella expected, she was knocked back 4 feet away and landed on her back. Rasaad entered melee combat against Tsolak with Ralis, his fists glowing red with flames. Tsolak knew that his reinforcements would arrive at any minute, all he would have to do is keep them busy until they show up, and then... divide and conquer.

While Tsolak was keeping his distance from Ralis and Rasaad, dodging their attacks more than fighting back, Ikros realized that the vampire is stalling for time so his wolf allies can arrive and assist him in battle. If they show up when they haven't subdued Tsolak yet, the battle might take a bad turn, being outnumbered and all, so he needed a spell to slow down Tsolak, and fortunately he had memorized the perfect one for this occasion. He prepared to cast the Slow spell, and once the spell was cast on the vampire, Tsolak realized his movements are now much slower than before, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't dodge Ralis, Rasaad and Isabella's attacks. Ralis slashed his chest three times, Rassad performed two roundhouse kicks across his face, and Isabella stabbed her sword straight into his chest. And instead of dying, Tsolak's entire body evaporated into a gray cloud of vapor and floated away back towards his lair.

"He's getting away!" Isabella exclaimed, watching the large vapor cloud disappear heading towards the trail leading to the cavern where the coffin is.

At that moment, Ralis, Rasaad, Isabella and Ikros heard the sound of wolves howling. And they sounded close. Very close.

"Uh... I think we have more serious problems..." Ralis said, feeling his skin crawl.

Rasaad looked carfully outside the illumination of the campfire, and he saw more than a dozen yellow eyes staring at them from inside the darkness of the woods! Rasaad realized then that these are not regular wolves that Tsolak had called.

"Look out! Dire wolves!" Rasaad exclaimed when the first wolf revealed itself.

When the first dire wolf jumped in the campfire's circle of light to attack, Ikros cast Stoneskin on himself while Isabella proceeded to attack it, and the others entered the campfire illumination and Ralis and Rasaad fought them as well. While fighting them, Ralis couldn't help noticing how different dire wolves are different from normal wolves. Dire wolves have yellow eyes, they are 9 feet long and judging by the immense bulk of their bodies, they have 800 pounds of muscle, with mottled grey, brown or black fur, and they have a few long needle-like quills on their backs, almost like a porcupine. There are six of them, and they did not hesitate in attacking, and neither did their targets. They had a hard time getting their jaws on Ralis, Rasaad and Isabella because their swords would always end up inflicting wounds on them. Isabella didn't always attack with her sword, she also bashed her shield against the dire wolves that tried to attack her, and sometimes when her shield came in contact with their bodies, the wolves were set on fire, a sign that the shield has magical enchantments. However, a few of the dire wolves eventually realized that the best prey to go after are the ones who are not fighting in the front lines.

Two dire wolves went after Ikros, and Ralis, Rasaad and Isabella were too busy fighting the other four to defend him. Ikros knew he didn't have enough time to cast the spell Dominate Monster on one of the dire wolves, so he relied on his quarterstaff for defense. He smacked aside one dire wolf with his quarterstaff only to leave himself open to get mauled by the other. Fortunately the Stoneskin saved his flesh from being torn apart. One dire wolf had its jaw clamped on the wrist of Ikros' right hand, while the other dire wolf tried to bite into his jugular, but to no avail.

"Help! Help!" Ikros called, unable to fight back or stand up because of the dire wolf that is biting his wrist pinning him down.

Ralis managed to kill one dire wolf at the moment when Ikros called for help.

"Hold on!" He exclaimed, and he and Isabella charged to his rescue while Rasaad punched and kicked the other two living dire wolves, inflicting burn marks and wounds all over their bodies until they succumbed to their wounds and died.

Ralis and Isabella stabbed their swords into the bodies of the dire wolves mauling Ikros and saved his life. Now all of Tsolak's dire wolf allies have been slain. Ikros pushed the dead body of the dire wolf off of him, took Isabella's hand and stood up with her help.

"Are you all right?" Ralis asked him.

Ikros brushed the dirt off his robes. "Let's just say I never want to get up close and personal to a wolf and smell their rancid breath anytime soon," he said.

"Aren't we forgetting the vampire?" Rasaad asked, approaching them, moving away from the corpses of the dire wolves he recently slain.

"Beard! The monster got away!" Isabella cursed angrily.

"Calm down, he shouldn't be hard to find. We'll just look for a badly injured and really angry cloud," Ralis said.

"He must have returned to his tomb- it's somewhere down this path; we hadn't found it yet. He'll reform there, but it'll take time. Here, take this stake," Isabella said to Ralis, handing him the wooden stake. "If you can find Tsolak, stake him through the heart."

Ralis glanced down at the stake in his right hand, then nodded at Isabella.

"Let's go, Rasaad," Ralis said, heading further west towards the trail Tsolak disappeared down, with Rasaad following him out of the campfire's circle of light.

"Do you really think they'll succeed?" Ikros asked Isabella, watching them go.

Isabella smiled. "After seeing what they can do... I'm not worried."


	6. Chapter 6 Dwarves of Dumathoin part 2

Meanwhile, two miles north from the broken Coast Way Bridge crossing, in a cavern not far from the crusader campsite, Caelar's right hand man, Hephernaan, stood in the cavern's darkness with his quarterstaff glowing brightly with light because of the Light cantrip spell, waiting for someone to arrive while looking down at his reflection in the pond at the center of the cavern's only room. Hephernaan rubbed his chin while staring at his reflection, as if he were fairly amused at his appearance. It wasn't long until he heard footsteps approaching behind him. Hephernaan didn't need to turn around to see the mysterious hooded man approaching him- he could hear his footsteps approaching. The last time they spoke was a couple tendays ago, when Caelar got fed up with the hooded man's attempts at learning her heritage. He requested to speak to the hooded man privately on that day, and now, today is they day they speak in private, away from Caelar's ears.

"You came. Good. I wasn't sure you would," Hephernaan said by way of greeting, keeping his back turned on the hooded man for a few seconds before turning around to face him.

The hooded man made sure to keep his face mostly hidden under the shadows of his hood, and fortunately for the hooded man, Hephernaan's shining quarterstaff couldn't illuminate the hooded man's face, only his chin and lips, nothing more.

"I was curious," the hooded man replied. "I had to learn who would be so arrogant, so foolish as to summon me in such a fashion. Who are you, who thinks himself my equal- my better, even, judging by your message's tone?" He asked, sounding mildly offended.

"Me? I am naught but a servant," Hephernaan replied in a mockingly humble tone.

"If you know who I am, you know that I do not deal with the servants of others. If your master would speak with me, I am happy to do so- or has he grown so weak even his words can no longer reach this plane?" The hooded man asked, his voice still tempered with hardly contained anger.

Hephernaan's smug smile now transformed into a serious scowl. "Do not doubt my master's power- or our allies," he warned the hooded man.

"You think I doubt the Umbral Accord's power?" The hooded man asked.

Hephernaan took a defiant step forward towards the man.

"If you respected it, you would not do as you did in Baldur's Gate. The child of Bhaal belongs to my master," Hephernnan hissed.

The hooded man briefly clenched his fists, wanting to throw a magic missile at Hephernaan's face but instead relaxed them.

"I've done nothing to keep the godling from you," he calmly admonished Hephernaan.

"You are trying to influence Bhaal's spawn for the benefit of your personal agenda, and in doing so, you interfere with my master's business. The Accord will not let this continue," Hephernaan said in a voice cold as ice.

"Perhaps you are right. Perhaps not. You do not speak for the Accord, and I do not bow to the demands of some broken fiend's _lickspittle_ ," the hooded man retorted, saying the word "lickspittle" with so much hatred that he nearly choked on the word.

He turned his back on Hephernaan and walked away from the illumination of his quarterstaff, heading for the cavern's exit, leaving the young man alone in the cavern.

* * *

Meanwhile back on the other side of the Winding Water, Rasaad and Ralis carefully walked down the trail, Rasaad kept his eyes focused on the ground and trees around them for telltale signs of a trap laid out to stop them. The ground is mostly gravel, so walking quietly towards Tsolak's tomb is not an option. While Rasaad had his eyes on the ground, Ralis looked ahead, and he thought that he saw a large rock structure that is 11 feet tall a few yards ahead that is almost shaped like one of those menhirs. He actually believed that it is one of those menhirs, but when he and Rasaad got close to it, he realized that it is just ordinary rock.

"Stop!" Rasaad exclaimed.

Ralis immediately stopped, mostly out of being startled.

"What?" Ralis whispered.

Rasaad crouched down on his knees, inspecting the ground inches ahead of him and Ralis.

"I see two tripwires. Right there in front of us. The wires seem to be attached to that rock monument next to us, and those trees over there," Rasaad said.

"Can you disarm them?" Ralis asked.

Rasaad shook his head. "I regret to inform you that I was not trained to be a thief or rogue. I have no experience in disarming traps," he said regretfully.

"Huh? But... but... you and your brother were orphans forced into a life of thievery, right? You must have some experience picking the locks of treasure chests and things like that, right?" Ralis asked, his voice hinting worry and desperation.

"Gamaz and I only picked the pockets of people in the markets of Calimport for money, Ralis. We never had any lock picking, or trap disarming experience," Rasaad corrected him.

Ralis huffed in frustration. They can't go barging into Tsolak's cavern, his traps will kill them before they can get inside. He wished that he had the foresight to bring Safana with him to disarm the trap. Then Rasaad stood back up.

"So what should we do?" Rasaad looked at Ralis for answers.

"Well, the obvious choice is head back to the Flaming Fist camp, wake up Safana and bring her back here with us, but I don't know how long it takes for a vampire to heal. By the time we come back, it might be too late... Let's go see what Isabella and her partner have to say about this," Ralis replied.

They headed back to Isabella and Ikros's campsite. Ralis and Rasaad told them about the traps, and Ikros had an idea that will sound like a heartless method. He knows a spell called Monster Summoning II, which means he can summon five goblins or less and command them to assault the vampire's lair, sacrificing them to the traps laid around the cavern. Ralis and Rasaad didn't like the idea at first, sacrificing living creatures, but realized that they had no choice, the alternative might give Tsolak all the time he needs to completely heal. And so Ikros summoned four goblins and commanded them to follow Ralis and Rasaad to the vampire cavern. Heeding his command, Ralis and Rasaad led the goblins to the spot where Rasaad discovered the first two traps.

They let the goblins move on ahead, but the goblins never stopped and asked them why they stopped, they were just eager to do as Ikros commanded. The first goblin hit the first tripwire, and a few hidden blades under the gravel sprang up and pierced the goblin's body, killing it, but the three remaining goblins continued charging at the cavern entrance even though their fellow golbin had fallen. The second goblin was felled by the second trap, the third goblin got six feet close ot the cavern before the third trap brought him down to his knees, writhing for a few seconds before expiring, and the last goblin almost made it inside the cavern, but never did because of the final trap.

Rasaad sighed in depression. "It pains me with guilt having to sacrifice a creature, goblins, even, for a goal that calls for the death of a greater evil," he said.

"Any other person would not shed a tear for a goblin, you know," Ralis reminded him.

Rasaad nodded. "I know," he said.

Ralis smiled at him. "But we aren't like other people, are we? You and I see the sanctity and value of all life."

Rasaad smiled back. "That I can agree with, my friend," he said, then he and Ralis moved on towards the cavern, entering it.

As they expected, the caves are completely pitch black since the dim light from the moon and stars can't shine into the cavern, but Rasaad had an idea to provide some light. Channeling his ki, his spiritual energy as a Sun Soul monk, he caused his hands to be set aglow with flames, illuminating the cavern.

"That was good thinking, Rasaad," Ralis congratulated him.

The cavern is much smaller than Ralis and Rasaad expected. It is just a small room with an old wooden coffin in the center of it. They approached it and opened it, revealing Tsolak inside, his skin pale as death, and his clothing in no worse shape than during their fight minutes ago. Ralis saw that the cuts he inflicted are in the process of slow healing, and the wound Isabella made below Tsolak's ribcage in the center has not fully healed yet either.

Ralis pulled the wooden stake Isabella gave to him out, positioned the sharp end directly above Tsolak's heart, and drove it in after a four second pause. The stake pierced Tsolak's skin and went deep into his heart, puncturing it. Tsolak opened his eyes wide and shrieked in pain, startling Ralis so badly that he lost his footing and fell back on his buttocks. Rasaad only stepped back a few inches. Ralis stood back up in time to watch the vampire writhing in agony inside the coffin with Rasaad for a few seconds, then Tsolak's body collapsed into a pile of dust.

Then they returned to Isabella and Ikros' campsite.

"What news?" Isabella asked them.

"Tsolak has been destroyed. He will kill no more," Ralis replied proudly.

Isabella smiled. "I had a feeling you wouldn't have difficulty finishing Tsolak off," she said.

"Few things will keep me from driving evil from the world wherever I find it," Ralis said.

"You deserve a reward. Here, take this shield. It belonged to the Halfling whose inn burned down east form here. Return it to him with my apologies," Isabella said, handing him the shield he had attached to her arm.

Ralis held the shield in his hand, looking down at it in shock. Takos's shield was in Isabella's possession all this time?!

"And this gold as well, take it, please. May it aid you on your travels," Isabella added, giving Ralis a bag full of gold and silver coins.

Ralis had to hold the edge of the shield with his left hand to hold the bag of coins with his other hand.

"Thank you. Good luck in your travels as well," he said.

"Until we meet again," Isabella said, then they went their separate ways, Ralis and Rasaad headed east back towards the Flaming Fist camp.

When they returned to the camp, they saw that Minsc, Dynaheir, Corwin and a few other Flaming Fist soldiers who have just recently awoken from being subdued by the Darts of Sleeping recently by two the crusaders Skie recently defeated.

"Welcome back. Did you find anything worth leaving camp for?" Corwin asked Ralis.

"I bumped into Rasaad. You remember him, don't you? The Sun Soul monk who we tried to recruit back in Baldur's Gate?" Ralis replied, pointing his right hand thumb at Rasaad behind him and stepped aside.

Corwin approached Rasaad and shook his hand.

"You followed us this far by yourself? I'm impressed," she said, making no attempt to hide her awe towards Rasaad's endurance.

"After you left, I began to have... second thoughts about turning my friend down, but this time, I've made up my mind. I would like to join you in your fight against Caelar Argent's crusade," Rasaad said.

"We will need ever strong arm we can get. Welcome aboard, Rasaad," Corwin said.

"Ah, Rasaad, my friend! Welcome back!" Minsc said gleefully, then Boo squeaked twice. "Boo says he is happy to see you too!" Minsc added.

Rasaad nodded. "I am glad to be around friendly familiar faces again. It is good to see you again too, Minsc, and you as well, Dynaheir."

Dynaheir only nodded in approval, and Corwin took notice of the shield Isabella gave him in Ralis' hands.

"What's that you got there? A shield?" She asked him.

"Yeah. Two vampire hunters gave it to me. It belongs to the Halfling man who owned that burned out inn," Ralis said.

"Then let's go return it to him right away," Corwin urged.

* * *

They left the camp, going north until they found the burned out inn again, and they checked the campsite near it. Only three campers were there, Takos being one of them, and even though there are fourteen tents, everyone else is gone. Old depressed Takos noticed Ralis and his party approaching immediately even though he sat near the campfire, staring into the flames in depression.

"Oh, it's you again. We're still closed," he said sullenly.

"Hey, Takos, I found your shield," Ralis said, handing it to him.

The Halfling took the shield into his hands, his eyes open wide in astonishment.

"I... I don't believe it. I thought for sure the bandits would murder you in the forest," he said in surprise.

"I'm not beaten so easily," Ralis assured him.

Takos slowly smiled at him. "You truly are a hero, sir. Here, take this dart as a token of my gratitude. I considered using it to kill myself- but I've a reason to go on now, thanks to you."

"Thanks," Ralis said, taking the dart out of Takos' hand.

"Now I have to get going- if I'm lucky, I can catch my wife before she gets too far. Hopefully she'll take me back," Takos said, then went inside his tent behind him, grabbing his belongings, stuffing them into his rucksack and emerged out the tent with the rucksack strapped on his back, and a rope wrapped around a nearby tree to prevent his mule from wandering off too far.

"Good luck, Takos," Ralis said.

The Halfling nodded at him after climbing on his mule and exclaimed: "I'm coming, my love!" And he and his mule took off running down the road towards Baldur's Gate. When the sound of the mule's hoofs beainting the ground as it ran died down, Ralis and his party heard a man shouting in the distance.

"Come one, come all, free admission!"

"What was that?" Corwin looked around in confusion.

"It could be ghosts! Spirits of evil trying to lure us in a deadly trap! But they do not know they are the ones who will be trapped!" Minsc declared.

"Come! come see the amazing spectacle of the Black Pits!" The voice exclaimed again.

Ralis looked across the other side of the road and saw a man standing on the other side shouting to the campsite like a game show announcer. Out of curiosity, Ralis and his party approached the man, along with Takos's human friend and the two other campers Takos was with before he left.

"Step right up, young folks! Would you like to witness the most fearsome battles of our time? Here have a flyer," the man said, handing Ralis a flyer.

The flyer is an advertisement of an entertainment show consisting of wild animals fighting in a pit called "The Black Pits". The flyer urges spectators to bet on the squirrel, and explains that the Black Pits is the most fearsome animal fight arena on the Sword Coast. Ralis looked up at the man who gave him the flyer and gave him a skeptic scowl.

"I've witnessed some pretty fearsome battles in my life already," he said skeptically.

"Nothing like this, I assure you! At the Black Pits, you'll witness deadly matches the likes of which you could never imagine! 'Tis the finest entertainment the Sword Coast has to offer!"

"All right. You've piqued my interest, good sir. Where can we find this most awe-inspiring of spectacles?" Ralis asked him.

The announcer gestured to the narrow dirt road path leading into the woods. "Right up the path, sir- a new bout should be beginning soon!" He exclaimed with the usual enthusiasm as an announcer should.

Ralis, his party, Takos' friend and another human man walked past the announcer and headed into the western part of the woods. As they walked down the path, Ralis studied the flyer, wondering what kind of fighting pit this is that urges spectators to bet on a squirrel.

"Either this is a complete crock, or there are magically enhanced animals. What kind of animal fight show has a squirrel for a champion?" Ralis asked aloud.

Corwin gave Ralis a puzzled frown. "A squirrel? Give me that flyer," she said, and Ralis handed it to her.

"A fighting squirrel? Oooh, I shudder at the thought of a great butt kicking squirrel!" Minsc said, then Boo on his right shoulder squeaked. "Oh, don't be jealous Boo! I would never replace you! No squirrel of great strength can match your great wisdom! Wisdom always prevails over strength!" Minsc assured his hamster.

"Some days I wonder why..." Dynaheir huffed.

After a few minutes of walking down the path, Ralis, his party and the two human men following behind them found the so-called Black Pits. It is a pit that is 4 1/2 feet deep, making it very easy for a race taller than a goblin to climb out of, with more than a dozen wooden planks around the edges to make sure climbing out of the pit is impossible for small animals. It is surrounded by nine torches providing light to the area, and there are dozens of people gathered around the small pit. These crowds of people must have come from Takos' campsite and they are here out of boredom. To the north of the pit is a white tent with blue zigzags on the pointed roof, and next to the tent are several crates, probably containing food and water for the owner of the Black Pits and his animal combatants. And near the crates are several small cages, containing chickens, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, roosters, and other diminuitive animals. Only one cage held a goblin inside it, though, but nobody paid any attention to them.

"There it is," Ralis said, pointing at the crowds of people gathered around the small pit, waiting for the next fight.

Ralis and his party managed to get by enough people to get close and see that there is a brown and white rooster in the pit, doing nothing but wandering around the pit and pecking the ground for possibly worms. But after a minute of waiting, the owner of the Black Pits emerged from his tent, and Ralis was surprised to see what kind of person this man is. He is a drow like Viconia. Ralis gasped softly, and what surprised him is that the crowd don't seem to care that the owner of this show is a drow. Corwin, Minsc, Dynaheir an Rasaad were surprised too, but they neither said anything or made a move. The drow is apparently male, he has long white hair that rests on his shoulders, his nose is sharp and angular, his obsidian face and red eyes apparently held mischief and evil cunning behind it, and his robes appeared to be old and shabby, as if he had been living on the surface for a months wearing the same clothes, struggling to make a decent living up here. Ralis couldn't put his finger on why this drow man is here. Drizzt came to the surface, then Viconia, and now this drow too. What's his story? What made him leave the Underdark like Drizzt and Viconia? The drow raised his arms high and shouted with all the bravado and enthusiasm of a game show host he could muster:

"Come one, come all! See the cream of the Sword Coast's combatant crop! Witness the brilliant and bizarre battles in the Black Pits of the one and only Baeloth the Entertainer!"

The drow, revealed to be named Baeloth stepped closer towards the crowd and they parted away, watching him in complete silence like a crowd in a circus waiting to see the first act of entertainment to commence.

"Gather in the gallery, my gallants! 'Tis time for another test 'twixt two titanic terrors in Baeloth's blackest pit yet!"

"Yay..." A crowd member said in a bored way.

Baeloth smiled wide. "Fate favors you fortunate few who will witness these feral foes in a furious fray! First, I give you the wild wonder of the western kingdoms. Wise men say only fools rush in to face... the wolverine!"

Then he cast a magic spell that removed the two roosters in the pit, then cast another spell that will magically transport one of the animals in the cages a few feet west from the pit into the small pit, and instead of a wolverine like he promised, he put a brown rat inside the pit!

Ralis, his party, and the crowds of people stared down at the rat wandering around in the pit, feeling very underwhelmed.

"That's a wolverine? Looks like a rat..." A man said to Baeloth.

Apparently Baeloth ignored the man's observation. "But what wily wonder could conceivably win a war against the wolverine? There's but one answer: that hardy, hate-filled horror, the honey badger!" He exclaimed.

Ralis couldn't help chuckling when he heard Baeloth say that. Because he had lived behind Candlekeep's walls ever since he was a baby, Ralis has never seen a honey badger before, but he has heard that they are surprisingly aggressive and fearless animals. So fearless, in fact, that they would fight a juvenile dragon even though their chances of winning are very slim They just don't give a damn. Baeloth used his mage magic to teleport in another animal, and instead of an actual honey badger, a squirrel was magically placed inside the palisade with the rat! Nobody cheered, nobody said nothing, just dead silence for five seconds.

"Now that is DEFINITELY a squirrel," a man blurted out.

"I bid the battle... BEGIN!" Baeloth exclaimed.

Everyone watched the rat and squirrel in the pit, expecting them to do something spectacular, but the rat and squirrel did nothing, they didn't even attack each other, they just ran around the small circular space aimlessly, or scratching the wooden stakes trying to find a way out.

"Boooo!" A man jeered.

"You call this entertainment? 'Cause I don't," Another unhappy man declared.

"Me mum and me dad have had better fights than this over Midwinter dinner!" Another man said disapprovingly.

"Where's the blood? Where's the furious beauty of the fray? The eternal dance of life and death, the dramatic clash of tooth an' claw in an unending battle for survival and supremacy, played out before us in the theater of combat?" Another man exclaimed rather emphatically.

"Yeah! Where is that stuff?" Another man wondered aloud.

"Normally I don't approve of animal fights as entertainment, but this is ridiculous," Corwin said disdainfully.

"This is too sad to watch. I'm going to go talk to the ringmaster. You wait here," Ralis said to Corwin, and carefully navigated his way through the crowds clockwise to reach Baeloth standing near the pit at the "11:00" position.

Baeloth is no fool, he could clearly see how unsatisfied his guests are, and the eventuality of their departure without giving him a single coin.

"Patience, my peculiarly profound patrons! The primitive play you propose will be presented!" He assured them.

At that moment Ralis got close enough to speak to the drow.

"Your audience is right, drow. This is about as entertaining as watching grass grow," Ralis told him.

Baeloth looked at the young human in confusion. "Do I know you?" He asked.

"We've not met. If we did, I'd remember you," Ralis said.

"You flatter me," Baeloth said with a cynical grin.

"I'm gonna FLATTEN you if this show doesn't improve," a man in the crowd threatened Baeloth.

The drow smiled warmly... if you could call it warmly, coming from a drow.

"You crave more, you cretinous creatures- I- uh- er, cultured company of canniness and class? I concur. And so I give you... the goblin!" He exclaimed.

Then he used his teleportation magic to put the goblin in the pit from the cage. The goblin stood in the center of the pit with the squirrel and rat, wearing dark brown +1 leathers small enough to be worn by a goblin as body armor, holding a crudely fashioned axe in its left hand, and a small battered buckler attached to its right arm. The goblin is three feet and four inches tall, has red eyes, short violet hair and yellowish colored skin. Instead of killing the squirrel or rat, the goblin looked up at Baeloth with an angry glare.

"Let me out of here, drow! Let me out!" The goblin demanded to Baeloth, speaking the common human language instead of the goblin language.

Ralis was impressed to hear the goblin speak Common using proper grammar, any other goblin would say "Let me out here", or something like that, but what surprised him more than that is the realization that his judgment of the goblin's physical appearance to identify its gender had been betrayed. Judging by the sound of the goblin's voice, it is definitely female. The goblin's voice resembled the voice of an elderly human woman trying to speak with a parched, dry throat.

Baeloth nodded dismissively at the goblin. "You'll have your freedom, my freakish friend- but first, you must fight for it!"

"Kill it! Kill the goblin, y'bloody rat!" One of the people in the crowd exclaimed.

That surprised Ralis- they knew that a squirrel and rat aren't the type of animals that can fight, but yet they expect them to kill a goblin?

"I thought it was a wolverine..." A woman in the crowd reminded the man who spoke up.

"Shut up!" the man snapped back.

Ralis saw the goblin's arms tremble in anger and rage as she stared hatefully up at Baeloth.

"Maglubiyet take you, nightskin! Let me out!" She exclaimed once more.

Maglubiyet is an evil aligned goblin god known as The Mighty One or The High Chieftain to his worshippers, and rules over the pantheon of goblin gods with an iron fist. He is an exarch of one of The Dead Three, Bane, and is described to be an 11 foot tall goblin with skin black as charcoal, muscular arms and flaming eyes. Ralis knew nothing about the goblin pantheon, and therefore had no idea who Maglubiyet is when the goblin mentioned his name.

"Silence, you simpering scullion!" Baeloth shot back.

Ralis took notice that while Baeloth avoided belittling his human guests, he had no qualms about calling the goblin a scullion because nobody would dare jump to the defense of a goblin even if one was offended. Who would? They aren't exactly known to be one of the nicest sentient races in Faerun, they are hated as much as drow are for their evil tendencies.

"The goblin clearly doesn't want to be here. Release her. Now," Ralis calmly told Baeloth.

The drow certainly didn't expect Ralis to come out and say this, but he didn't flinch.

"Think on this a tick, noble one. Have you ever met a goblin that DIDN'T thirst for the thrill of the fray?" Baeloth asked him.

Ralis didn't reply, thinking it over. While he has met a few goblins or goblinkin that attacked him and his party without hesitation in the past, that does not mean all goblins are like that. Besides, it is foolhardy to judge an entire race by the actions of a few members of that species.

"Free me, snake!" The goblin snapped.

"Shut your slobbering facehole, you sniveling smutch!" Baeloth snapped back.

"Are you deaf, drow? She clearly does not want to fight," Ralis said to Baeloth.

Now Baeloth has become fed up with Ralis's persistent urging, approaching him until he stood two feet close to him.

"Recognize your role, you repellent wretch. I am the Entertainer. I speak," he said spitefully, pointing at himself with the thumb of his right hand. "You watch and applaud-" he pointed at Ralis. "- or remove yourself, if you'd rather."

Ralis wanted to punch Baeloth in the face, but he didn't, he had another thing in mind.

"That does it. This place is finished," Ralis hissed.

He walked towards the stacked supply crates near Baeloth's tent and kicked them down, causing them to collapse, then he proceeded to stomp on them with his boots or damage them by stabbing Kondar into them until their contents spilled out. Baeloth and most of the crowd were shocked to see Ralis demolish the supplies, and release the animals from their cages.

"Changed your mind yet, drow? Huh? HUH?" Ralis curtly called to Baeloth after damaging the last undamaged crate.

"I cannot concede to such contemptible, nay, criminal, coercion," Baeloth said in disdain.

"I'll concede you, silver hair!" The goblin exclaimed angrily, then she began to do a strange dance, hopping on one foot for a few seconds, then the other for a few more seconds while doing strange arm gestures with her arms as if casting a spell, and while she was doing that, she began chanting in the goblin language for about five seconds, and a few small orbs of violet light temporarily danced around her as she danced and chanted.

Then suddenly behind Ralis and Baeloth, three portals on the ground opened up behind them and three spectral goblin ghosts climbed out! Judging by their armor and weapons, they are long deceased warriors.

"Whoa!" Ralis gasped, taking a few steps back.

Baeloth said something in the drow language, but Ralis didn't hear what he said, and even if he did, he wouldn't understand it.

Seeing the goblin summon the goblin ghosts spooked the crowd so badly that they ran off screaming.

Ralis stepped back even further as the goblin ghosts proceeded to attack Baeloth. The drow did not have his quarterstaff to fight back, and he couldn't cast a spell on the spectral creatures safely without the spell being disrupted, so he became a complete pushover to the goblin ghosts. One of them smacked Baeloth's left leg with its stone axe, causing him to collapse to the ground, giving the goblin ghosts a height advantage to attack him. Soon they had him lying on the ground almost curled in a fetal position, suffering many wounds on his body. Baeloth tried to shield his head from injury as the goblin ghosts pummeled him with their spectral stone weapons. He didn't admit defeat until one of the goblin ghosts kicked Baeloth's head where his arms couldn't fully protect him.

"Gah! Stop! I surrender! Cease this spectral assault! I GIVE UP!" He exclaimed.

The goblin female stopped chanting and allowed the goblin ghosts to return to whatever afterlife they came from, disappearing into the dimensional portals that opened under their feet, then Baeloth groggily stood back up on his feet, using his teleportation magic to remove the goblin from the palisade and place her between him and Ralis. Then almost immediately, Ralis' nose caught a whiff of something that smells like stale urine, and realized that the odor must be coming from the goblin female's leathers, soiled by her body's poor hygiene. Baeloth sank to his knees in depression at the sight of his Black Pits in ruins. The only people left in the area are Ralis, Minsc, Dynaheir, Corwin and Rasaad.

"My pit of plenty... pauperized, made pitiful by a pernicious porcupine of a goblin! What a woeful waste," Baeloth moaned sadly.

"Your show was pitiful long before the goblin did what she did," Ralis said to Baeloth while pinching his nose with his left hand.

"We had a deal, drow. You broke it. I should let the ghosts have you," the goblin berated Baeloth.

"A deal?" Ralis repeated.

"This worm belly promised me shelter and food. Then he caged me, sent me out to kill or die for pink skin scum!" The goblin explained to Ralis.

"What's done is done. Tell me your name, goblin," Ralis said.

"Forget this wretched rabble-rouser! What will happen to me, Baeloth Barrityl, Showman of Showmen, Entertainer of Entertainers?" Baeloth asked Ralis sadly, still on his knees.

"M'Khiin's my name, of the Grubdoubler clan," the goblin said.

"I am Ralis Rutela. I'm sorry you had to suffer the drow's hospitality. Such as it was."

"Been through worse. It's over now," M'Khiin shrugged indifferently.

"What was that dance you did? Did you actually summon those ghosts that subdued Baeloth?" Ralis asked.

"I'm a shaman. Spirits listen to me. They do what I ask, if I ask right," M'Khiin replied.

Ralis nodded, rubbing his chin while his companions cautiously approached him, Baeloth and M'Khiin. Ralis knew that very few people in Faerun would go on an adventure side by side with a goblin, but M'Khiin's abilities as a shaman would definitely prove useful to the Flaming Fist and the armies of Waterdeep and Daggerford against Caelar's crusaders.

"A useful talent. Would you consider joining me? I'm traveling north to face the Shining Lady, Caelar Argent. Would you like to join us?" Ralis said to M'Khiin.

"Yes. I will come with you," M'Khiin nodded without hesitation.

"What?" Dynaheir said in disbelief.

"You'd willingly invite a goblin to join us? Have you taken leave of your senses?" Corwin questioned Ralis incredulously.

"Far from it, Captain. And as for you, drow... if you can prove yourself useful to the Flaming Fist... I'll allow you to join with us as well," Ralis replied.

Corwin, Dynaheir and Minsc obviously disagreed with Ralis' choice of allies.

"Ralis, no, no. A goblin is bad enough, but you can't trust this... THIS," Dynaheir objected, pointing at Baeloth.

"Boo has no problems with most drow. But THIS drow is another story- one that Boo says will not end well!" Minsc stated.

"I trust your judgment, my friend. I only hope that we don't regret it afterwards," Rasaad assured Ralis.

Baeloth couldn't believe what he had just heard. He expected Ralis to behead him or some similar fate, but joining his party is something he very least expected.

"You are wise beyond words, human," he praised Ralis.

Then Ralis used the Cure Minor Wounds spell on Baeloth, healing the wounds inflicted by M'Khiin's ghosts, surprising both M'Khiin, Corwin and Baeloth.

"What... How... How did you heal...?" Baeloth stammered in disbelief, seeing that Ralis is obviously a fighter instead of a cleric, yet he was able to cast a healing spell like a cleric.

"It's a long story. Let's get going back to camp. It'll be dawn in a few hours," Ralis said.

Baeloth couldn't help smiling again as he stood up on his feet. "You amuse me, human. There is something unique about you."

"I'm just an average human, no more, no less," Ralis replied.

"I still don't agree to this, but I won't stop you, Ralis. But if that goblin harms anyone in the camp, I will hold you personally responsible," Corwin warned him.

"Trust me, Corwin, I know what I am doing," Ralis assured her.

* * *

And so he left the Black Pits arena with Rasaad, Dynaheir, Minsc, Corwin, M'Khiin and Baeloth following him... after Baeloth went back into his tent to get his quarterstaff, spell books and bedroll, that is. When they found their way back to the road, they heard a strange noise in the forests to the east from the road, which would be to their left since they are going down the road back to the Flaming Fist campsite.

"What's that noise?' Ralis asked, halting the group.

"Everyone stayed quiet, trying to hear what he heard. They primarily heard crickets, but Minsc was the first to claim to hear something unusual.

"I hear the sound of steel. The sweet sound of righteous steel punishing the minions of evil!" Minsc exclaimed, drawing his broadsword and heading into the eastern parts of the forest.

"Minsc! Get back here!" Dynaheir called to him, but Minsc didn't stop, he disappeared into the woods.

"Damn it! We better go after him before he gets himself hurt!" Ralis said.

"Wait, what are we...?" Baeloth tried to ask Ralis what is going on, but he was ignored and everyone followed Minsc into the woods alone. Baeloth hesitated for a second, then made sure his rucksack is fastened to his back tightly, then followed after them into the woods.

Everyone followed Minsc through the dense cluster of trees until they reached an open space several seconds later, where a cavern entrance awaited ahead of them. In front of the cavern entrance, a lone dwarf is fighting a small group of zombies. As far as Ralis and the others could tell, the dwarf has already slain four of the zombies, and already killed his fifth and last one. He decapitated the undead creature's head and the head rolled away a few feet when it landed on the ground. Then the dwarf noticed Ralis and his group looking at him.

"Ho there, strangers," he greeted them, sheathing his war axe. "I'd like t'say thanks fer the assistance, but I can't on account o' you not givin' me any. Thanks fer nothin', is what I guess I'm sayin'."

"And who are you, good dwarf?" Minsc asked him.

"Ah, where be me manners? Sorry. Daran of the clan Highhammer, that's me. Slayer of vermin, particularly the two-legged kind, if y'know what I mean."

"Ah, yes good dwarf, I know exactly what you mean! You speak of the vile, repulsive, villainous vermin of evil! I too have slayed many vermins! With the help of my comrades, of course. Here, let me introduce you to Ralis Rutela, one of the best butt kickers of evil I have ever met!" Minsc replied, and Ralis came up alongside him.

"Hello. I'm Ralis. Glad to see you are unhurt," Ralis greeted Daran.

"Likewise. Good to meet you. Very good, considering the circumstances. I realize I might not look like much for the vermin-slayin' right now, but look, I was brought onboard this project with the understanding that I'd be dealing with, y'know, creepy-crawlies and such. Ankhegs, carrion crawlers, maybe a serpent or two." Daran paused there and sighed, pointing at the slain zombies strewn around him. "Undead weren't part of the deal. Didn't bring the tools for taking care o' that sorta thing."

"Really? Why are you here? There are no dwarf settlements around here, to my knowledge," Ralis said.

Daran smiled. "You go where the work is, y'know? I've up an' down the Sword Coast, what, fifteen times in myl ife, leanin' out nests from Calimshan to the Spine o' the World. Never faced anything like I did in this dig. a straightforward contract- or so I thought. I was to help with a remote dig organized by a talhund of Dumathoin. If his clerics met anything unpleasant in the tunnels, I'd take care of it. Done dozens, hundreds of these sorts o' things before without much trouble. A bugbear nest once, that was about the worst I ever had to deal with, and dealing with it? Not so bad, compared to what happened in this dig."

"What exactly is this dig you speak of?" Ralis asked him.

"See that cavern there? The clerics, and Coldhearth too, they were, y'know that thing...? Adamant. They were adamant no one who happened along see anything suspicious, 'specially if that no one served what's-her-name, Caelar. They were so worried about someone coming along outside. Shoulda been more concerned about what they'd find inside," Daran replied, pointing back at the cavern behind him.

"They had you to assist with whatever they might encounter, huh? ... At least they thought they did," Ralis stated, wondering if Daran did his job or acted cowardly.

Daran was smart enough to sense Ralis' doubts behind his words.

"Oy!" He exclaimed defensively. "I do my job, and I'm good at it. Pile all the things I killed up in a stack, and... well, it'd be a big stlarnin' pile, that's all I'm saying. And you can bet when I've got my strength back, I'll be going in there to add to it. If the Luckmaiden smiles, I might find one o' them priests still alive and actually get paid for this mess. If not, the wizard, Coldhearth, had a chest he kept a close eye on. He was first t'fall, doubt he'd mine me takin' it as payment for my troubles. 'Course, if someone ELSE wanted to go in there an' try for the chest while I recover, I could be convinced to split the take with 'em."

"Heh. What an opportunistic little oaf," Baeloth muttered to himself because he has never met a dwarf who looked after himself or herself before. Not that he would have the time or luxury to, since he is a drow after all.

"There may still be people alive in there, and all you can think of is gold?" Ralis asked the dwarf incredulously.

Daran shook his head. "Nah, nah. I'm also interested in gems, an' items of value. An' if any of 'em are still alive, I'll do what I can, o' course. I'm not makin' any apologies for doing what I got to. It's a hard world. Gotta be a hard man to live in it. Now if you'll give me some time, I need to rest- build me strength back up." He sat down on the ground. "Axes high, friends," he added.

Grunting in disgust, Ralis and Minsc moved past Daran and headed into the cavern, Baeloth, M'Khiin, Dynaheir, Rasaad and Corwin following behind them.

After walking a few feet through the familiar structure of an ordinary cavern, they found themselves in a corridor structured like a mine, torches hang on the walls, lighting the area, and wooden planks are placed on the ceiling and walls, much like an iron or goldmine, the only difference here is that there are no workers to be seen, and the sounds of battle can be heard several feet ahead. Peering forward about 60 feet ahead, Ralis and his companions saw little more than a dozen clerics fighting back a horde of undead! The lead dwarven cleric, behind the other clerics, stayed out of melee battle to cast supportive spells on his fellow clerics like Bless and such.

"Hold them back!" The lead cleric exclaimed.

"There's too many of them! We haven't the power to stop them!" One of the clerics exclaimed while beating back a zombie with his mace.

"If we can't stop 'em, we'll earn a seat at Dumathoin's table!" Another cleric said, apparently hopeful that if they die, Dumathoin will be there to welcome them.

Minsc gasped in horror. "Oh no! This cannot be! They are overwhelmed by the overwhelming wave of evil! Fear not, good dwarves! Minsc is here to save you!"

The lead cleric heard Minsc's voice and glanced back at Ralis and his group as they approached.

"Mind your backs! They're behind us now too!" He warned his fellow clerics, thinking Ralis and his party are more undead.

"Stay your hand; my swords are sheathed! I am no enemy of yours!" Ralis called back.

"Unsheathe your swords, Ralis! Boo's nose, it twitches- there is evil here!" Minsc exclaimed and Boo squealed in agreement.

"If ye be a man o' goodwill and faith, stand with us against this tide o' darkness!" He replied.

"All right! Go!" Ralis exclaimed, drawing his swords out for battle.

"AAAAAArrrrr!" Minsc shouted his war cry as he charged forward with Ralis.

Dynaheir cast a magic missile at one of the zombies, Corwin fired an arrow at one of them after aiming carefully for its head, and the arrow hit its mark, causing the zombie to collapse dead. M'Khiin began to dance and chant, calling forth the spirits of long deceased goblin warriors and asked for their aid. They accepted M'Khiin's calls for assistance and appeared n the middle of the zombie hoard, and began attacking them with Ralis, Minsc, Rasaad and the dwarf clerics. Baeloth did nothing, however, he just stood back and watched, obviously impressed at how well Ralis and his group are dealing with the zombies. Dynaheir simply cast several magic missiles at the zombies until she could no longer cast the spell. Even the cleric leader was impressed. It took approximately two minutes to kill all the zombies, but eventually the battle ended with possibly a hundred zombie corpses littered on the floor, there is too many to count, some have arrows stuck into their heads, others are decapitated or have their skulls crushed in by maces.

Once the battle ended, the dwarf clerics cheered happily. The cleric leader approached Ralis and shook his hand.

"Ye have me thanks, stranger. Deepvein's me name, Brother Auchlin Deepvein of the Talhund Order o' Dumathoin's Secret Gleam- what's left of it. Ach, I should not complain, we'd none of us have survived that onslaught without yer aid."

"I met another of your number, a Daran Highhammer, outside the cavern," Ralis told him.

Brother Deepvein frowned. "Gurn Coldhearth falls an' that coward lives? Where's the justice in that, I ask ye? He was s'posed to keep the beasties away from us- that was his job! Och, well, ye see him again, tell him to get his biscuit-arse in here an' help us."

"I will, but tell me, who is this Coldhearth I keep hearing about?" Ralis asked.

Brother Deepvein sighed in disappointment. "By the grace o' Dumathoin and the gold o' me friend, Gurn Coldhearth. Ach, Gurn, forgive me... He believed in me... When I told him the Keeper'd sent me a vision of a vein of ore runnin' through this ground, one I could forge into chains tae bind me tae great Dumathoin for all time, he didn't hesitate. He pulled his chest out an' he said, "How much do ye need tae find it, Auchlin"?"

"So, in addition to being a god of mining and underground exploration, Dumathoin is guardian to the dwarven dead, is he not?" Ralis asked, recalling what he could from memory about his studies in Candlekeep about the dwarf gods.

Deepvein smiled. "Ye're a wise man. Dumathoin is guardian o' the dead, but the dark power we disturbed below didna care about that. We tunneled and tunneled, eventualy we hit something, but it weren't no ore. It was a room full o' books- books an' the monsters ye saw us fightin'."

"You tunneled into another cavern complex, this one inhabited?" Ralis asked.

Deepvein shook his head in denial. "T'weren't nae cavern. A buildin' o' some sort, buried gods know when, filled wi' death. The vile creatures poured out, killing half our number or more. Me friend Gurn Coldhearth sacrificed himself, holding 'em back while we tried to seal the entrance- tried an' failed. Me fellows an' I need time t'rest, tae heal. Once that's done, we'll venture back intae the caverns, slay the slain one final time an' find Gurn's body. I'll not return tae the 'hold without it."

"All right. Stay here and ensure no other undead escape. My party and I will venture into the caverns and find your friend," Ralis promised.

Brother Deepvein sat down on a rock with a smooth surface and smiled in relief. "I wish we were in any kind o' shape tae help ye out, but we're no'. Watch yer back in there," he said.

"Thank you. Let's go," Ralis said to his group, and his party and M'Khiin's three goblin warrior ghosts followed Ralis deeper into the mines.

* * *

The mines were like a maze, and almost everywhere they went, undead and carrion crawlers stood in their way. They eventually found Crommus's grave, but all Ralis found were a few items useful only to a bard. Then they made their way deeper into the mines, fighting off any zombies that got in their way until they reached a part of the cavern that seemed to be more of an underground temple of some sort, in a room that seems to be a library of sorts. The walls seem to be made out of stucco and the floor made out of limestone. There are a few torches giving light to the room, but the library looks as if it had been ransacked, An empty bookshelf has been toppled over, spilling many books all over the floor, and there are several cobwebs on the ceiling.

"It's good to see in the dark," M'Khiin commented.

While Ralis and Rasaad checked the bookshelves still standing, Dynaheir noticed that on one of the tables in the center of the room there are two books and one folder on top of the desk, a sign that someone has been reading them.

"Hmm. Ralis, look at this. Someone has been reading these books here," she called.

Ralis approached Dynaheir and looked at the three books on the desk.

"How is that possible? This place is crawling with undead," Ralis said, then he reached for the green book and opened it, discovering it only has one page that hasn't been torn off. The entire paragraph has been marked out by someone who read it, but the person who last read this book left a few words unmarked that said:

" _Sometimes it is wise to think backwards_."

Ralis put down the green book and picked up a black folder embossed with the word "LICH" and opened it, revealing two pieces of parchment written in languages Ralis did not understand. When he tried to show them to his party, they couldn't understand the written foreign languages either. But fortunately two sheets are legible, and written in Common. The first is written in a spidery hand, and it reads as follows:

" _To complete the Ritual of Becoming, the subject's soul must be placed into their desired phylactery, either by the subject or the magician performing the ritual. After the etheric self has been safely stored, the physical changes required by the subject's impending state can begin. Magical energy absorbs much of the body's moisture, skin shrivels and often changes color, giving the subject a corpse-like appearance. The subject may experience some physical or emotional discomfort as the changes take hold, but so long as their spiritual self is bound to its phylactery, there is no danger of it physically perishing. In fact, once the transformation is complete, the subject's continued physical existence can only be ended via the phylactery's destruction."_

Ralis placed the first parchment behind the second, and found the handwriting on the second parchment much neater than on the first and more easier to read.

" _On the matter of Phylacteries_

 _The phylactery is simultaneously the source of the lich's greatest power and its greatest, indeed its only significant physical weakness. Any independent lich should take pains to ensure its phylactery is kept secure at all times. Though not strictly necessary, the transition from mortal to lich is more easily achieved if the item which will store the transformer's soul (ie, the phylactery) is something with which they are familiar. This is particularly the case in Rituals of Becoming that are performed by a party other than the one undergoing transformation."_

"Ralis, do you have any idea what a lich is?" Dynaheir asked Ralis in a dire, serious tone while he placed the parchments back in the folder.

"I know, Dynaheir, I wasn't born yesterday. I got a bad feeling about this..." he replied gravely.

"And where is Gurn's body? It is nowhere to be found here," Rasaad commented.

"I'm not going to jump to conclusions until we find hard evidence about Gurn's fate," Ralis said.

They headed for the door's exit and found themselves in a room with a large cauldron containing water, surrounded by several animated skeletons armed with shields and swords. Ralis and his group fought them until their bones collapsed lifeless, then they realized there are three ways out of the room they are in other than the door back to the library. For the next several minutes they systematically explored each room they could find, fighting off dozens of undead and animated skeletons of humans and bats. One door was locked, but when Ralis forced the door open, a blast of hot air hit him and his party, and when they entered the forced open door, they found that it led to a room containing a damaged portal that constantly spews out fire all over the place, meaning this defective portal must lead to the Elemental Plane of Fire. They left the room and continued exploring the complex for clues of Gurn's whereabouts.

They eventually found what appears to be a throne room of some sort, there is a throne surrounded by a moat of misty liquid that appears to be poisonous, overlooking a row of glass containers that must be meant to hold test subjects for nefarious experiments. Some of the glass containers were shattered broken, some remained intact. The room is illuminated by torches holding blue flames, and the room is infested with zombies, animated skeletons. Fighting them would have been easy if they weren't allied with bone bats. During the battle, Corwin nearly ran out of arrows, but at least all the zombies and animates skeletons have been defeated. While searching the room for clues, Ralis found a journal and an old parchment. Looking at the parchment first, he saw that all that remains of the parchment's white seal is a gray stain on its back. On the other side is a letter written centuries ago, its simple but effective penmanship making the words easy to read.

" _Dearest Karella,_

 _Our journey to the Shadow King's outpost has been long and treacherous. Trolls, hobgoblins, gnolls, xvarts, and even a gargoyle stood 'twixt us and our goal, but we have finally made it across Coast Way Crossing. If the map purloined from the Netherese vampire steers us true, we cannot be far form our goal._

 _Even if this venture proves as profitable as Walkins believes it will be (I'll believe that when I see it, and perhaps not even then), there are many more dangers ahead. No property of the Shadow King will be left undefended. At a minimum, we are told to expect resistance from a small army of minor undead, which do not concern me overmuch, and a lich under the influence of the King's Overmind, which concerns me greatly._

 _Once these threats are dealt with, the going should become much easier. Along with the map, the vampire "supplied" us with a key it claimed opens the door to the Shadow King's Inner Sanctum. It spoke of a treasure room hidden within, loaded with items of great power and value._

 _I send this letter to you in the hopes that it finds you in good health and that we will be together again soon- but however soon that may be, it cannot be soon enough for my taste. Until then, I remain yours,_

 _Agda Coldhearth"_

Next Ralis checked the journal. The inscription on the inside cover of this small leather journal identifies its owner as one Gurn Coldhearth. The part that is written "Devoted of Dumathoin" had been violently crossed out, tearing the paper in several places.

"Hey! I found Gurn's journal!" Ralis called to his party, and everyone joined him.

"Well? What does it say?" Corwin asked.

"I... I can't tell," Ralis said, flipping through the pages.

Apparently Gurn valued his secrets, most his journal entries are written in a complex code beyond Ralis's ability to understand. The two most recent entry, however, has been fortunately written in Common.

" _Though the gold alloy proved more difficult to work than anticipated, I remain convinced that, once it is rendered sufficiently malleable, it will be an ideal substance from which to construct a phylactery. The heat of the Elemental Plane of Fire should render the material more pliant. I will use the portal to access that searing inferno shortly, first, I must scry a suitably private location there in which to do my work."_

The next entry, the most latest one, seems to have been written quickly, as if Coldhearth was in a hurry.

" _Must record this quickly, before the memory fades. Last night as I slept, the mind of the Shadow King's lich touched mine. It confirmed that we will soon reach the outpost if we continue the dig. When we do, I will go to him and perform a ritual severing him from the Overmind. In exchange, he shall grant me what I seek- no longer need I live in fear of the sickness ravaging this body. I must push Deepvein and the others all the harder to continue digging until at last what I so richly deserve is finally mine_."

"Oh my gods, this is worse than I thought...! Gurn worships Abbathor...!" Ralis gasped.

Abbathor is an evil aligned dwarf god known as the Great Master of Greed, and another exarch of Bane, and his worshippers believe in acquiring all forms of wealth at any cost.

"What?" Corwin asked in confusion.

"We need to inform Deepvein of this right away!" Ralis exclaimed, taking Gurn's journal and the parchment with him.

"I get the feeling that sooner or later we will be fighting a lich," Baeloth noted.

"No one wants to speak to you, nightskin. Not even me," M'Khiin said following everyone out the room, Baeloth being the last to leave.

They made their way back to the mines and back to where they left Deepvein and his fellow dwarves.

"Ye've returned. What did ye find? Any sign o' Gurn Coldhearth?" Deepvein asked Ralis.

"Brother Deepvein... *pant*... *pant*... Gurn Coldhearth is not the man you thought he was," Ralis told him while gasping for air because of running.

Deepvein frowned. "What're ye talkin' about, y'wee empty-headed nunce?"

"Gurn manipulated you, tricked you into traveling here that he might enrich himself," Ralis replied, finally catching enough air to calm his rapidly pounding heart.

Deepvein grew more angrier now. "Gurn Coldhearth was a good man- one o' the best. I'll not have ye talk about him this way!"

Ralis showed him Gurn's journal. "I'm not lying, his body is nowhere to be found, but we found his journal. Read his journal yourself. You'll see I speak the truth."

Deepvein took the journal into his hands and opened it. When he read the most recent entry, his eyes slowly widened in shock.

"Oh no, no, no, no... This can no' be! Coldhearth, ye ill-spawned bastard, how could ye do this tae me?"

"He is a disciple of Abbathor. You and your followers were a sacrifice made in the name of greed," Ralis sympathetically told Deepvain and his fellow dwarves.

All the dwarves were as shocked as Deepvein were, some murmured to each other in confusion, and a few others sobbed at the realization that the man they looked up to and respected is a greedy bastard who left them to die to obtain riches of some kind.

"An' now he'd see himself transformed- give up his mortal life and become a lich! This cannae happen, it cannae!"

"If he hasn't become a lich yet, we might have time to stop him while he is vulnerable. But if he has already transformed... What can we do?" Corwin asked the cleric urgently.

Deepvein shrugged in dismay. "I'm no' strong enough to face him as a mortal, never mind an undead. You, though- ye might be able tae take 'I'm... 'specially wi' this."

Deepvein gave Ralis what seemed to be three small green jewels.

"What's this?" Ralis asked after close examination of the "jewels".

"We call it the Secret Revealed. Its light blinds and burns all creatures o' unlife. It may help ye defeat the lich, but use it sparingly- it'll no' last long. Now go- find Coldhearth an' lay the traitor low, before he gets what he seeks!" Brother Deepvein replied.

""Thank you, Brother Deepvein," Ralis said, then started to leave.

"This is not what I signed up for..." Baeloth muttered, worried that the fight against the lich might go bad.

"Come on, Baeloth the Entertainer. It's showtime!" Ralis urged him.

Baeloth couldn't help but chuckle. "Nice try, human, but as an entertainer, I am more accustomed to hosting shows, not being a part of the show," he said as he followed behind Minsc.

When he looked up at Boo, he saw the hamster hiss at him.

"Do not stab me in the back, drow, Boo is watching your every move," Minsc warned him.

"What, that little rodent?" Baeloth scoffed.

"Boo is no rodent! He is a miniature giant space hamster!" Minsc vehemently corrected him.

"Ah. I stand corrected then," Baeloth smirked.

they made their way back to the repository of undeath and in the room where the cauldron filled with clear water is, Ralis noticed there are four slots for four scepters to be placed in. One scepter is already left in one of the slots, so now they must find the three missing scepters. It took them minutes of searching the rooms they already cleared out in their first visit, but they found all three scepters and placed them in the slots. They heard a grinding noise coming down the hallway where the throne room can be found, and they followed the noise to the end of the hallway where they found a pool of blood shaped like an inverted "U" in front of four pillars. Ralis and his companions noticed that the pillars have markings on them. The one to the far right has a carving of a fragmented leaf on it, the second one to the right has a snowflake, the one to the far left has a shining sun, and the second to the left has a whole, unbroken leaf. It didn't take long for them to realize that the carvings represent the four seasons of each year, the sun representing summer, the snowflake representing winter, the fragmented leaf representing autumn, and the whole leaf represents spring. They also realized that the carvings on the pillars must be touched in the correct order.

Dynaheir assumed that the pillars must obviously be touched from spring to summer, autumn and winter, but Ralis objected, remembering from one of the books he read in the library that sometimes it is wise to think backwards, that the pillars must be touched in reverse, from winter to autumn to summer and then spring. It worked, they heard gears grinding somewhere nearby, hinting that they have unlocked something.

* * *

Meanwhile in the inner sanctum of the repository, not far from where Ralis and his party are, Gurn Coldhearth himself lay unconscious on an altar surrounded by a small circular pool of blood, which is surrounded by seven humanoid stone statues appearing to be cloaked in robes, and seven large pits behind each statue containing bright blue flames illuminating the room. with Gurn's unconscious body is the lich under the influence of the Shadow King's Overmind performing the ritual that helps Gurn become a lich himself. By the time the lich finished the ritual, seven bolts of lightning struck each statue clockwise one at a time, but in less than two seconds. After that, Gurn's soul left his body to be contained in his phylactery nearby, and the strange thing is, he could still feel himself in his physical shell even though his soul left, the experience made his body feel strange. He felt pain in his joints, his mouth became dry as if he hasn't drank water in days, and though he still breathed air as if he is still living, he sensed that his heart has ceased beating. He stopped breathing for a few seconds and noticed that his inactive lungs and heart never ached for more intake of air. it is a surreal yet uncomfortable experience.

"It is over, Coldhearth. You have survived the transformation. Keep your phylactery secure and your unlife will be long," the lich told Coldhearth.

He slowly managed to open his eyes and sit up. He looked at his hands and saw that they have become very pale, as if he had become a vampire. He climbed down the altar, jumped over the small pool of blood and approached the lich, smiling.

"Long and prosperous indeed! Abbathor be praised!" Gurn exclaimed happily, and noticed his voice has become louder in volume as if he is everywhere.

The lich nodded. "You freed me from the Overmind, and in turn I gave you what you desired. Our business is done. Beware my former master- should he learn of your existence, he will take you as he did me," he warned the dwarf lich.

"Aye, aye, I know," Gurth nodded dismissively. "The shadow King won't hear a peep from me."

"Fare thee well, Coldhearth. We shall not meet again," the lich said before leaving by stepping into a dimensional door he created.

By the time the lich left, the door upstairs swung open and Ralis and his companions descended down.

"Eh? Who are you now? How did you come to this place?" Gurn questioned the newcomers.

"Ah, uh, it's a long story. A story that ends in a pitched battle with a dwarven lich," Ralis replied smugly.

Gurn raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You would see me destroyed? Try it, then. Please. I would know the extent of the power running through my veins!" He said as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

While Gurn began to buff himself with protection spells before going on the offensive, Ralis immediately threw one of the Secret Revealed jewels at Gurn. The jewel hit Gurn on his forehead and exploded, showering him in bright light! He shielded his eyes with both hands and flailed about, screaming and swearing in the dwarven language because the light from the Secret Revealed had blinded him, causing his eyes to sting with immense pain, rendering him defenseless.

Corwin fired her last arrow at him and the arrow stuck to his left shoulder. Rasaad, Ralis, Minsc and M'Khiin rushed towards him to attack him with their melee weapons. Before Minsc closed in on him first, Baeloth's magic missile struck Gurn first, causing him to stagger back. Minsc swung his sword with incredible force, creating a large gash in Gurn's clothing, a mortal wound that would have killed him in one strike if he were not a lich. While Gurn staggered away from Minsc still swearing in the dwarven language, Rasaad took this opportunity to attack, and delivered a powerful uppercut under his chin with his flaming hands, causing him to fly several feet up in the air, slam against the wall, and fall back down. Though he is undead, Gurn still felt pain, his chest felt as if it is on fire, and he had a big headache. M'Khiin charged forward next and slammed her ax into Gurth's exposed head. Ralis delivered the final blow, stabbing Albruin into Gurth's damaged skull, causing the other half of his soul in his body to join his other half in the phylactery while his undead body repairs itself.

"Hurry! We must find his phylactery before he wakes up!" Rasaad said urgently. Ralis and his group checked the room for secret passages until Corwin found one, but there is a key hole that needs a key.

"Check his pockets for the key," Corwin advised Ralis.

Approaching Gurn's unconscious, undead body, Ralis checked Gurn's robes until he found an oddly shaped key. He returned to the secret entranced and used the key to open the door. They ran down a 40 foot long corridor until they found an empty room with six compartments hanging on the wall.

"One of them holds the phylactery! Find it!" Ralis exclaimed.

And they spit up in their search. Most of the gold containers held only large fortunes of gold and silver formed into the shape of a box. The second gold box on the far left side of the room held the phylactery and Ralis found it. It appeared to be composed of malleable metals, but it is more durable than it looks. He couldn't crush it with his boot, and he couldn't smash it to pieces with his sword. He even used Call Upon Holy Might to enhance his strength and break it apart in his bare hands, but it didn't work.

"How do we destroy this thing?" Ralis asked his party.

"Ralis, nothing on this plane of existence can destroy a phylactery," Dynaheir said.

"You are fighting a battle you can't win, human," Baeloth said.

"What?! Then how can we destroy it?!" Ralis asked in desperation.

"The material of this phylactery is made out of metals that cannot be found on this plane. You would need something from another plane, like fire from the Elemental Plane of Fire to destroy it," Baeloth said.

"...What about that portal room we found recently? The damaged portal spewing flames out of it? The flames there can possibly melt it," M'Khiin suggested.

Ralis began to smile hopefully, he forgotten all about the damaged portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire that Gurn mentioned in his notes. "M'Khiin, you're a genius! Hurry! To the portal room!"

"I give a suggestion, and all of a sudden you think I am a genius?" M'Khiin asked, then followed everyone out the sanctum.

Ralis ran as fast as he could with the box containing the phylactery in his hands. When they were halfway to the room where the damaged portal is, Gurn's undead body finally finished healing itself and he woke up. He touched his chest and skull and found that his wounds have completely healed. After checking his body and realizing that his injuries have healed, he noticed the secret door leading to the room where his phylactery was is wide open.

"No...!" He whispered in shock and checked his robes to find out that his key is gone.

"NO!" He shouted so loudly, Ralis and his party several rooms away could hear his booming voice. " _I'll see all of you dead for this! I'll flay the souls from your bodies! Your miseries will be legend across all the planes!_ "

"He sounds pretty mad," M'Khiin nonchalantly said as she ran from room to room with her allies.

"We're almost there! There's the door up ahead! Stay here and stall him while I go destroy the phylactery!" Ralis exclaimed.

His party stayed behind in the hallways to fight off Gurn to give Ralis time to destroy the phylactery.

Ralis opened the door and barged into the room regardless of the superheated air blasting his face, and as soon as he entered the door and turned left to go down the corridor to the portal room ahead, Gurn stood in front of him!

"Oh no!" Ralis gasped.

Gurn used Dimensional Door to bypass Ralis's party guarding the hallway and get ahead of him. He cast a spell causing a spectral hand to appear and grab Ralis by the throat, lifting him two feet in the air.

"You should not have done that," Gurn hissed at Ralis as he choked and sputtered. "If you had instead proven yourself worthy of Abbathor's bounty, he would have helped reward you with wealth and riches beyond your wildest dreams. But look at you now. You chose to challenge me, a lich, and now, you will pay the price with your life. Consider it an honor to be my very first victim," Gurn said curtly.

Just as the corners of his eyes began to be engulfed in darkness, Ralis reached into his pockets for the second Secret Revealed jewel and threw it at the lich's face. The jewel exploded, blinding and hurting Gurn once again, causing the spectral hand to disappear and Ralis to fall to the ground and catch his breath.

"What the devils is this thing?! _ARRRGGHHH!_ " Gurn exclaimed in rage, rubbing his stinging eyes.

Ralis took the phylactery in his hands, ran past Gurn, entered the portal room and threw the phylactery near the broken portal in the center of the room. When the broken portal belched fire, the fire touched the phylactery, melting it in less than five seconds. Then suddenly Gurn shrieked loudly in pain, and collapsed dead. Permanently this time.

Minutes later, Ralis and his party returned to Deepvein and his fellow dwarves in the mines.

"Ralis, ye return. Is Coldhearth dead? Tell me ye ripped the catchpenny bastard's head from his shoulders!" Deepvein said hopefully.

"I did. He's no more," Ralis assured him.

All the dwarves cheered happily, except Deepvein.

"He turned his back on me, on great Dumathoin. There's a price to be paid fer that. Ye've done me a good turn an' no mistakin' it, Ralis. Here, take these, please. Fer meself, I'll stay here, cleanse this place of the unholy elements within, an' then... I cannae say what happens then," Deepvein said.

"You know, we could use good men at our side when we face the crusade at Dragonspear Castle," Ralis suggested.

Deepvein smiled. "Ye make some sense. All right, then. When I'm done here, I'll make me way to Dragonspear. Until then, keep yer axes high, m'friend."

When Ralis and the others stepped outside, they saw Daran sitting where he always stood, looking up at the moonlit sky. It didn't take him long to notice them emerge from the cave, though.

"Well? What did y'see inside?" He asked.

"So many things. Undead, more undead, I think there were a couple salamanders in there, a dwarven lich- that's something you don't see everyday. Quite the adventure," Ralis said with mild sarcasm.

"An' the clerics? Any left alive?" Daran asked.

"Auchlin Deepvein yet lives. He'd probably like to speak with you since you deserted him and all," Ralis replied.

"Oh aye? Yeah, awright. I'm good enough t'go. 'Scuse me," Daran said and walked past everyone, entering the cavern.

Ralis and his party made their way back to the campsite. Ralis and Corwin made sure to set up tents for Rasaad, M'Khiin and Baeloth so they can sleep. After all, they only have a few hours left before dawn.

* * *

Later that morning, on the other side of the broken Coast Way Crossing bridge, the crusaders in the campsite were wide awake, and in a open field not far from their campsite, eager to hear Caelar Argent's speech before they move on back towards Dragonspear Castle. There are over 80 crusaders in the field, made up of humans, half-elves, kobolds, elves, hobgoblins, ogres, gnomes, dwarves, and even a few half-dragons! As soon as Caelar appeared atop a very tall boulder looking down at all of them while the light from the rising sun shone behind her, the cheers of all 80 crusaders swelled. Even Hephernaan and the mysterious hooded man is among them.

"Shine your light upon us!" A civilian turned crusader human man exclaimed among the cheering crowd.

"Praise be Caelar!" Another crusader exclaimed.

"Help us, Caelar! Lead us!" Another crusader exclaimed, a veteran from the first Dragonspear War.

Caelar raised both of her hands high, signaling everyone to calm down, and all the cheers almost immediately clamed down.

"You know my name. You know my cause. But you do not know my story. Mine is a noble family, blessed in every way. The Argents are destined for greatness, or so some think. I thought it myself once," Caelar said to her crusaders on the ground below, while they looked up at her in admiration, respect and both.

"Thinking I could do no wrong, I wronged many, far too many. In time, I came to realize that my actions were not without consequence. That a price was paid, though it was not paid by me. I knew that had to change. But how? How might I redeem myself for my sins? For years, I prayed for guidance, and the one day, one glorious day, an answer was bestowed upon me by the gods themselves. Many have been taken from this world before their time. Lost in the Dragonspear Wars, dragged down into the Nine Hells in defiance of the holy order of things. Some believe they are gone, never to return. I know better. With you at my back, I swear to you, what was lost will be restored!"

"YEAH!" The crowd of crusaders cheered with new, emboldened strength and determination, except for Hephernaan, he just watched the crowd cheer, and smile faintly. The hooded man just simply watched.


	7. Chapter 7 Mind Over Matter part 1

**_"Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly."_**

 ** _-Plutarch_**

* * *

Meanwhile, as soon as Ralis, Corwin, Minsc, Dynaheir, M'Khiin, Baeloth, Rasaad and 20 of the dwarves of Dumathoin along with Deepvein made it back to the Flaming Fist camp, everyone is already awake and dismantling their tents and picking up their supplies for the long journey through troll territory. As expected, Marshal Nederlok, Corporal Duncan and the rest of the Flaming Fist soldiers were shocked to see that Ralis has allowed a goblin and another drow to join the ranks of adventurers who volunteered to help the Flaming Fist fight the crusaders. Viconia, however, was surprised and amused to see that Ralis has found another drow, a male drow, at that. Not many humans would be so welcoming to her kind. The only people who objected to M'Khiin joining everyone were most of the Flaming Fist soldiers, Belegarm, Raypheus, Safana, Edwin, Duncan and Nederlok, but Corwin, Rasaad and Ralis managed to convince them to tolerate M'Khiin's presence. As soon as the campsite was taken down, everyone began to move east. No one felt enthusiastic about taking this new route- journeying through troll infested forests to get to Boareskyr Bridge... it felt almost like a suicide mission. As for Caelar and her army of crusaders, their journey back to Dragonspear Castle turned out to be obviously much smoother, especially since they have managed to slow down the progress of the Flaming Fist coalition to Dragonspear Castle. And even as they made their way up to the intersecting Trade Way road.

As the days pass of Caelar and her crusaders making their way to Dragonspear Castle and the Flaming Fist coalition and their hired allies along with the hero of Baldur's Gate made their way through The Troll Claws, being waylaid by scouting parties of trolls every few hours, Caelar has a group of over a hundred crusaders on The Trade Way road near Dragonspear Castle, trying to prevent the military forces of Waterdeep and Daggerford and their own hired group of adventurers from gaining a foothold anywhere near Dragonspear Castle and make camp to wait for their Flaming Fist allies to show up. Ralis, Corwin and the rest of the Flaming Fist knew that they are moving against the clock. After the first four days of traveling through the forests littered with large jagged hills shaped like claws, they grew less fearful of trolls and more fearful about the possibility of crusaders at Boareskyr Bridge right now, placing explosives on the bridge. If they destroy Boareskyr Bridge like they did to the Coast Way Crossing bridge, there will be no more bridges to get across the Winding Water, the Flaming Fist and their hired help will have no choice to head north from Bridgefort towards the Marsh of Chelimber and the Serpent Hills and go through them to get around the Winding Water river, and as a result of that long, difficult route, it will likely take them a month or two to rendezvous with the armies of Waterdeep and Daggerford, and by the time the Flaming Fist get to the Trade Way road from that long route, the Waterdeep and Daggerford military will be slaughtered by the crusaders. But the soldiers did not let their fears of this grim possibility consume them, they let their determination feed on it, drive them forward past any troll that got in their way.

Still, the journey through The Troll Claws was not easy. The expedition was not always attacked by trolls, they also had to deal with a few basilisks too, but not often, fortunately they had time to prepare to face one when they see stone statues of rabbits, deer and other wildlife in basilisk territory. Some Flaming Fist soldiers got turned into stone, but they were saved thanks to the Stone to Flesh spells Edwin and Dynaheir knew. On the 9th day of their travel through the dangerous forest, sometime during the evening, Corporal Duncan walked off a few yards southeast away from the coalition to take a leak in private, and while he was handling his business behind a tree, he was suddenly attacked by a wild boar. The attack came suddenly and out of nowhere, but he was fortunately alerted to the animal's presence when he heard it squeal angrily and heard its hoofs stomping on the dead leaves on the ground as it charged at him from behind, giving him time to dodge it. Fortunately Skie Silvershield was nearby to save his life, she killed the wild boar by tackling it and impaling it several times with her dagger. From that day forward, Captain Corwin declared that no one should go away to relieve themselves without someone to protect them close by. Though Skie enjoyed saving Duncan's life, showing him what she is capable of in a fight, she did not enjoy using her shovel, digging latrines as usual, even though it is an important job for those who are used to expelling their bodily waste in a privy or restroom. In fact, she used her shovel more than her sword so often that blisters started to form on the palms of her hands. Since she has never had blisters on any part of her body before, or walked for so long without getting some sleep, she usually moaned and complained about it. Corporal Duncan and Ralis constantly reminded her that she must stay strong, not just emotionally and mentally, but also physically. Their lectures stopped her from complaining, but not moaning.

On that same day, Corwin spoke to Ralis for the first time since they have left the Coast Way Crossing road several miles west.

"I've been thinking about what will happen once we reach Dragonspear. I've never served in a coalition before. Alliances bring strength, so as long as everyone can get along," Corwin said to Ralis as they walked through the woods with Flaming Fist soldiers around them, Minsc, Dynaheir, Viconia, Baeloth, M'Khiin and Rasaad not far ahead.

Ralis nodded in agreement. "Three armies working together... it won't be easy maintaining alliances, I know that much."

"This life isn't easy for anyone, I know. It was easier, once, when all I had to worry about was myself. Having a child changes things. I have responsibilities now. To Rohma, my father... and to the Fist, of course." Corwin paused there and cast a quick glance at Ralis and he took notice of it. "I've let other people into my life since Rohma was born. They... I don't want to talk about them. My father says you only need one to win the game, but I'm tired of playing games," Corwin said, a hint of weariness and depression in the tone of her voice.

Ralis didn't need Corwin to look directly at him to know that she feels lonely and desires companionship, but is tired of sticking her neck out at the risk of getting her feelings hurt, afraid of getting her heart broken. He came to the realization that Corwin is probably attracted to him, but is afraid to act on her feelings, letting another person into her life. If she really wants Ralis into her life, then he is more than happy to oblige, besides, the chances of Neera coming back to his life and repairing their relationship is small at best.

"Let's not play them, then. I know what you are feeling, you cannot hide your feelings from me. You hide behind your sense of duty as a loyal soldier of the Fist, but you are more than that. You are a woman with feelings and desire friendship... and probably more. I am attracted to you, Corw- Schael. What comes of that is up to you. If nothing comes of it at all, I've no regrets having said what I said," Ralis said firmly.

Corwin is so visibly surprised to hear Ralis say this that she blinked three times in rapid succession.

"I appreciate your being so... forthright. I won't deny I'm drawn to you, but after my last relationship, with Tianna... Give me time to consider this. Please," Corwin said, trying to maintain eye contact with Ralis but for some reason had difficulty doing it.

Ralis nodded and lagged behind Corwin for a while, allowing her and several other Fist soldiers to move on ahead of him, wondering if Tianna is the name of Rohma's father. Then he felt someone nudge his left shoulder, and he turned his head to see a young recruit of the Flaming Fist. The young man was not wearing his helmet, but wearing a chainmail coif covering his hair.

"Trying to flirt with Captain Corwin, eh, hero?" He whispered to Ralis with a wink.

Ralis felt slightly embarrassed, so he only nodded at the young man.

"I'm not judging, I won't judge. It's just that not many men try to flirt with a woman who is a single mother. If you like her, then go for it, I just want to wish you luck," the young man said encouragingly.

"Thanks," Ralis said to him. "I just been through a breakup recently. Having a broken heart is more painful than I thought, so I'd rather mend that heart sooner rather than later."

"Aye, aye, I understand you completely, sir," the young soldier replied. "Your reaction to your first breakup is entirely natural. When you lose a good lass, you just ache to find another. It still surprises me that you are interested in the captain."

"Why?" Ralis asked.

"Well... because... never mind. Nice talking to you, sir," the young Flaming Fist knight stammered then walked on without further conversation, leaving Ralis wondering what was on his mind that he didn't want to say.

"My toes itch, Boo. How much longer must I wait before we find a nice evil face worthy of kicking, do you think?" Minsc asked his pet hamster sitting on his left shoulder.

"There's no shortfall of faces deserving a good kick in this world. I'm sure we'll come across one sooner than later," Corwin said, joining up alongside Minsc and Dynaheir.

Minsc grinned. "And then Minsc does what he does best!" He declared with a giggle.

Corwin arched an eyebrow. "Ramble nonsensically to his pet rodent about other peoples' rears?" She asked him.

Minsc nodded in agreement. "And then Minsc will do what he does second best!"

"Tell me, Captain Corwin, what is thine opinion of our friend the hero of Baldur's Gate?" Dynaheir asked.

Corwin wasn't expecting a question like that from Dynaheir, it felt like she had been blindsided, mostly she had been considering the possibility of a romance with the hero, but she had no intention of telling Dynaheir that.

"Haven't given it much thought," Corwin admitted. "Having a famous hero around is handy, but it also seems to attract trouble."

"Or create it," Dynaheir added.

"Such people always invite hassles. You don't get called "hero" without someone trying to pull you down," Corwin said.

"Yet thou wouldst support our group and keep our companions standing in the face of those who wish us ill?" Dynaheir said.

"... That's my assignment, so yeah. Why do you ask?" Corwin said, nodding slowly while frowning in confusion, wondering if Dynaheir's tone hints that she believes Corwin might waver in the face of an unexpected threat, like Ralis turning against everyone for example, since he is a child of Bhaal.

"I just wanted to know where thou stood should worse come to worst, and now I do."

Meanwhile, further back behind several Flaming Fist soldiers, Ralis was speaking to Glint, walking behind Viconia and Soralis.

"So, uh, Glint, I am aware that there are different types of gnomes, forest gnomes and rock gnomes. I want to know, which type of gnome are you?" Ralis asked.

"What type of gnome am I? That's easy. I'm a rock gnome. Forest gnomes, now those are the kind of gnomes you don't see too often, they like to keep to themselves, you see. We rock gnomes like to spend our long lives enjoying life to the fullest," Glint explained cheerily.

Ralis nodded in agreement, seeing how Glint always sounds and acts upbeat and cheerful, he admitted.

"We have gnomes in the Underdark as well, you know," Viconia said to both Glint and Ralis, glancing back at them as they continued walking.

"Deep gnomes?" Ralis asked.

"Svirfneblin?" Glint asked. "I wouldn't call them gnomes, exactly, uh, not gnome gnomes. They're a dour lot, aren't they? Dusty and grim," Glint haltingly said, as if choosing his words carefully.

"I have met few of them. Menzoberranzan marched on the svirfneblin city Blingdenstone once. But they escaped our wrath," Viconia said.

Blingdenstone is a deep gnome city-state founded in the Year of Fragile Beginnings (-690 DR) when the deep gnomes escaped the phaerimm, evil beasts with bodies shaped like conical windsocks with four arms and an ovoid head rimmed with many barbed teeth and a poisonous barbed tail. The phaerimm can't speak verbally, but they can communicate via telepathy. This deep gnome city is 45 miles west from the drow city where Viconia and Drizzt were born and raised.

"Those are some very lucky gnomes," Glint said, feeling a chill run up and down his spine because he heard how merciless the drow are to those they capture to be used as slaves.

"We drow make tenacious enemies. Their luck may not last," Viconia said coldly.

"And you wonder why we never hesitate to kill your kind," a Flaming Fist soldier, a woman said nearby.

Meanwhile further up front, Rasaad, walking near Edwin, decided to strike up a conversation with him, simply out of curiosity because he has never met a Red Wizard before.

"Master Odesserion, I understand you hail from the country of Thay," Rasaad said to him.

Edwin looked at him with a perplexed frown. "Who told you that? Have you been spying on me? A spy, are you?"

Rasaad's eyes widened in astonishment briefly. "No, not at all. You wear the colors of a Red Wizard and have referenced your home country several times."

"So you say," Edwin eyed him in suspicion. "I'm onto you, monkey monk. I'm watching you, never forget that."

"... I shall endeavor to keep this in mind," Rasaad said slowly, feeling uneasy about the Red Wizard scrutinizing him for no reason.

* * *

On the tenth day, Caelar, Hephernaan, the hooded man and the crusader army with them finally arrived at Dragonspear Castle, an old decrepit castle shrouded in mist and built across three low hills on the southwestern boundary of the High Moor east from Trollbark Forest and 320 miles north from the spot where the Coast Way road links with the Trade Way road. The castle is also famous for having a skeleton of a huge dragon draped around the damaged structure. As for the castle's origins, the castle was built a century ago in the Year of the Raging Flame (1255 DR) by a half-dwarf man known as Daeros Dragonspear around the lair of his copper dragon partner, Halatathlaer (pronounced Hal-ah-tath-lair"). Copper dragons are a species of dragons whose scale colors are based on metals instead of chromatic colors. They are generally known to be witty tricksters and have a very good sense of humor. Metallic dragons like gold, silver and copper dragons are generally good aligned while chromatic dragons like red, blue and green dragons are generally evil. Residents of the High Moor back then claimed to have seen Daeros riding on the back of his copper dragon friend occasionally.

Many people coveted Dragonspear Castle's riches, but many failed to win those riches until the Year of the Whelm (1290 DR), an ambitious wizard named Ithtaerus Casalia enacted a complicated plan to win the castle's riches. He plotted the castle's destruction by manipulating three chromatic dragons into attacking Daeros and Halatathlaer. As a backup plan in case the dragons he manipulated failed, Ithtaerus used his magic spells to create a portal to a hellish plane of existence called Avernus. Ithtaerus subdued Halatathlaer and tricked Daeros into trying to enter the portal to Avernus, killing him. Then the three dragons fought Halatathlaer. Two of them were killed, but the surviving dragon named Sharndrel managed to kill Halatathlaer and then out of anger for being deceived by the wizard, killed Ithtaerus as well. Soon the remaining defenders of the castle had to defend the ruined castle by trolls, goblins and ambitious wizards until they were driven out or killed. Now ever since the Year of the Creeping Fang (1305 DR), the castle is an abandoned place of ruin used as a base of operations for orcs and hobgoblins until the first Dragonspear War happened. Now Caelar aims to open the portal to Avernus and free the innocent souls taken by the demonic denizens, but because the portal is sealed closed deep within the castle, the task of reopening it is far from simple.

As soon as Caelar and the crusaders with her arrived to the castle, she got word from her scouts that the military forces of Waterdeep and Daggerford have successfully fought off the crusaders meant to stop them from gaining a foothold, and have made a campsite seven miles south from Dragonspear Castle, and it would take them a less than three weeks to make preparations for an attack on the Waterdeep and Daggerford campsite before the Flaming Fist armies can make contact with them. Though Caelar Argent is determined to complete her goal of saving the lives that are at this very moment being tortured in Avernus to no end, she still cares about the people who take up swords in her name, fighting for the friends, families or loved ones they lost during the two Dragonspear Wars.

But some of those crusaders, veteran elites and drafted civilians still have families that are still in this plane of existence, and their deaths will no doubt cause the grieving of many fathers, mothers, siblings, and widowed husbands and wives of the ones who willingly or were forced to fight for Caelar's cause. Depressed about the hundreds of crusaders who lost their lives fighting for her cause, Caelar set off into the castle and set herself in a room where she began to write more than a dozen condolence letters to the families of the crusader soldiers that died trying to slow down or stop the Waterdeep and Daggerford military forces, including those who died in the accident at the Coast Way Crossing bridge. Caelar, sitting on an old but strong wooden chair in front of a large dusty table with two six inch tall stacks of scroll paper dipped the featherless barbed end of a quail feather into a small bottle of ink and moved her right hand over to the paper in front of her and began two write her seventh condolence letter while a middle aged human man in a loose fitting blue tunic and brown belt on his black pantaloons behind her watched her write.

"... I am sorry for your loss, but rest assured that your husband's sacrifice will never be forgotten. Signed... Yours ever in faith, Caelar Argent," Caelar said, speaking what she is writing aloud.

After writing the letter, she placed it on the stack of letters she has already finished and sighed in disappointment, burying her head into her arms resting on the wooden surface of the table.

"I am sure the family will find your words most comforting, my lady," the man assured her, placing a comforting hand on her left shoulder.

Caelar wasn't in the mood to speak to the man, or anyone else, but soon they head footsteps, and the man looked back to see Hephernaan standing at the doorway looking at depressed Caelar and the stacks of papers she is writing.

"More letters of condolence, my lady? Surely there are other, more urgent matters that require your attention," he said to her.

Caelar raised her head up from resting on her arms, but she never looked back at him, instead, she closed her glowing eyes and rubbed her forehead with her right hand as if she suddenly got a headache.

"I am not of a mind to argue this again, Hephernaan," she rebuffed him wearily.

Hephernaan approached Caelar and knelt down beside her to her left, near the edge of the table.

"Their deaths lay heavy on us all, my lady, but they sacrificed themselves for a greater good. Letting their passing distract us would do them a disservice. Condolences can wait," he said.

Instead of trying to brush him off again, Caelar gave his words some thought. She slowly realized that he is right, however. Every soldier in her crusader army know the risks of their noble cause. Loyal soldier and loyal mercenary altogether, they trust and respect her, they are willing to lay down their lives to accomplish their ultimate goal, and until the souls of the victims of the first and second Dragonspear Wars are saved from the demonic denizens of the Nine Hells, writing condolence letters at this point instead of after they have completed their goal makes much more sense. Caelar slowly opened her shining blue eyes, turned her head and looked into Hephernaan's neutrally sympathetic gaze.

"You... are correct. We cannot afford distractions at this juncture," she said.

And as if her determination had been rekindled by Hephernaan's words of wisdom, Caelar slowly stood up out of her chair, standing tall and confident before her trusted adviser, and the man in the blue tunic stepped away a few feet, admiring how striking and awe inspiring Caelar is when she stands tall and no longer depressed, her long red hair running down her shoulders and back and her eyes shining brightly as if illuminated by her strong will.

"Gather the faithful. We have much to do," Caelar said to Hephernaan, and he nodded, leading Caelar out of the room.

Near the doorway she picked up her sword and shield and fastened the scabbard to her belt and attached her shield on her left arm and left the room with Hephernaan by her side.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Baldur's Gate at that same moment this very day, Imoen is in the Ducal Palace in Liia Jannath's bedroom with Grand Duchess Jannath herself, learning how cast magic spells. For the past several tendays since Ralis and the Flaming Fist coalition left Baldur's Gate, Imoen has been trying to cast the most simple magic spells that require only simple somatic components like certain hand movements and saying the right words, but for the past few tendays, Imoen has been failing every attempt to cast a spell even though she has memorized Jannath's instructions on how to cast the spell, so today, Jannath figured that instead, they are going to start with the very basic thing all mages should have, and that is a calm, focused mind. An unfocused mind and one mistake in casting the spell can cause it to be disrupted. Imoen stood four feet near Jannath's wardrobe with Jannath close beside her.

"Concentrate, girl. Clear your mind of all thoughts," Jannath instructed Imoen.

Imoen couldn't help smiling to ease the tension she felt within. "That should be easy. A lot of people say there isn't much thinking going on in there to begin with."

Jannath knew that Imoen was only using her sense of humor to lighten the mood, and she wanted her to take this lesson seriously, but she didn't want to be too stern on her, though.

"You are not without wit, Imoen- but that will only take you so far. What you need... and currently lack... is focus," she said while placing a comforting hand on Imoen's right shoulder.

Imoen had her head lowered at that moment, but but she turned to face Jannath to confess her feelings.

"Forgive me, Duke Jannath. It's just- it's hard. My best friend is charging into a dragon's mouth, and I'm just- sitting here, thinking about magic and stuff," Imoen said with stress in her voice.

Jannath already knew that Imoen is worried about Ralis getting involved in a fight that he doesn't need to jump into, but she also knew that her fear for her friend's health is what is stopping her from focusing on what is important right now.

"If you were truly thinking about magic, you'd not be talking so much," Jannath pointed out.

"I made a mistake. I should never have let him go face Caelar without me," Imoen whined.

Jannath crossed her arms. "In your current state, you'd be nothing but a burden. If you truly want to help your friend, you must focus your mind and your energies on your studies," she said.

Imoen nodded in agreement. "You're right. I know you're right." Then she rolled her shoulders, then inhaled and exhaled slowly. "All right, what am I supposed to do again?"

"Clear your mind," Jannath replied.

"Clear my mind. Right. I can do that," Imoen said while nodding for three seconds. Then turning her body sideways from facing Jannath, she closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. "Clearing my mind. Clearing my mind. Mind being cleared. Clear. Mind. Cleared mind. Cleeearrrr miiiiind," Imoen droned on in a upbeat way then sighed in complete relaxation.

Jannath said nothing, she just smiled, watching Imoen lapse into silence with her eyes closed.

* * *

On that same day and time but in a different part of the Sword Coast, in a part of the Troll Claws forest less than three miles south from Boareskyr Bridge and Bridgefort, the Flaming Fist coalition and their allies stopped and made camp, much to Skie and Safana's relief. Nederlok, Duncan and Corwin allowed everyone to get a day's worth of rest after they made plans on what to do, like sending scouts to check the surrounding areas so that no band of trolls or patrolling parties of crusaders can catch them unawares. And so, for the rest of the noon and evening, everyone ate some chicken noodle soup cooked by Duncan and Sergeant Reinhardt, and then when nightfall came, everyone fell fast asleep in their tents, with 20 Flaming Fist soldiers and seven clerics awake to stand guard over the camp for a while in case a party of hunting trolls or patrolling crusaders stumbles on the campsite.

Ralis fell into a troubled sleep once again, as he had another strange dream like the previous one a tenday ago near the Coast Way Crossing bridge. Only this time he is in front of Candlekeep. But it is not the same Candlekeep that he remembered. The skies are bleak and gray with ash falling from the sky, and the fortified library castle seems to be in ruins. Ralis stood in the inner walls of the fortress, near the front door into the library with Imoen, Gorion standing near the door, and the mysterious hooded man nearby. When Ralis looked at Imoen, he saw that she doesn't look 19 or 20 years old anymore, she is shorter, younger now, as if time had reversed her age to the point where she is seven years old again. Her eyes appeared glazed, as if she has been sedated or drugged. It also took Ralis a moment to realize that this dream sequence has reverted his age to the age of nine since he is the same height as Imoen as a child.

"Books for bones, words for blood. Candlekeep. Our home. It wasn't your fault we had to leave," Imoen droned to Ralis, her voice sounding as if she is in a trance.

"Only... it was. Wasn't it?" She continued, tilting her head slowly to the left, making Ralis' skin crawl. "You were all I had left in the world. And you abandoned me. I've got nothing now. Nothing."

Ralis tried to reason with her, but he couldn't hear his voice. It's almost as if someone or something muted his voice. Then young imoen walked away towards the exit into the outer walls of Candlekeep, towards the gates that lead out of the library fortress. Desperate to get her attention, young Ralis followed, and as he did, the world around him gradually turned more and more white until he could see nothing else. He stopped running and froze in place, waiting to see what would happen.

Soon the whiteness faded away and Ralis found himself in a new environment... His room in the Ducal Palace back in Baldur's Gate! He also noticed that this part of the dream allowed him to take the form of his current age, his 21 year old self, and he saw Imoen, now in her current age of 19 years standing near his bed, looking weary and tired. Even the hooded man is, as usual present, but behind Imoen, shielding himself from being seen by Ralis.

"I'm tired, Ralis. I'm so tired. Please,' Imoen pleaded to her friend wearily.

"I don't understand," Ralis managed to say.

Imoen pointed at the sword in Ralis' right hand. When he looked down at his right arm, he noticed that he is holding Albruin in his right hand! And the scary thing is he didn't remember unsheathing it. It didn't take long for him to realize what Imoen is asking him to do.

"I need you to do it. For me," she urged him.

Ralis shook his head in denial, slowly backing away.

"No... No... No..." He muttered, his voice echoing around his ears.

"Do as she asks," the hooded man urged Ralis, stepping into view from behind Imoen. "After everything you have done, everything you have put her through, you owe her this."

Ralis threw Albruin down to the floor in defiance, and unbuckled his belt, allowing Albruin's empty scabbard and the scabbard containing Kondar to fall to the floor, leaving Ralis completely unarmed.

"Never! It won't happen," he exclaimed through firmly gritted teeth.

"Her end may not come at your hand, but it will come. It cannot be denied," the hooded man assured Ralis.

He felt a chill run up and down this spine. What makes this hooded man so sure of that? Then the hooded man turned to face Imoen.

"How do you feel?" He asked her.

Then as if on cue, Imoen transformed into a tall, blurry monster with sharp talons and mauled Ralis. He immediately woke up when the monster's sharp claws struck his face. Turning his head left and right in panic, he soon realized that he is in his tent, and all he had was just another nightmare. The odd thing is, that strange hooded man is in this one, just like the previous. While he was getting dressed into his body armor, he heard a commotion going on outside his tent. Sensing that something could have gone wrong, he stepped out the tent into the morning sunlit outdoors and saw more than a dozen Flaming Fist soldiers around him murmuring to themselves about something.

"Hey!" Ralis called to a soldier speaking to another soldier, a woman that is several inches shorter than they both are. "What's going on here?" He asked them.

"Lieutenant Otilda came back from scouting the area. Alone and injured. Corporal Duncan can give you more details, sir," the soldier replied.

'I'll do that, thanks," Ralis nodded at the man respectfully and moved past them and several other Flaming Fist soldiers, heading for he northwestern part of the camp towards Mizhena's tent where Otilda's injuries are being treated.

He found Duncan, Corwin, Nederlok and Reinhardt standing outside Mizhena's tent, waiting for her to come out and give them an update on Otilda's condition.

"Good morning, Corporal. What's happening here?" Ralis asked him.

"Lieutenant Otilda led a scouting party north several hours ago to check if the crusaders have taken Boareskyr Bridge or not," Duncan replied.

"And? Have they?" Ralis asked.

"They most definitely have, unfortunately," Corwin confirmed.

"Dammit!" Ralis cursed through gritted teeth while curling his hands into fists.

"I wouldn't worry too much. According to Otilda's report, they haven't destroyed the bridge yet. They just have it occupied, and they seem to be interested in Bridgefort for some reason. Caravans coming from Soubar and Daggerford can't cross the Winding Water, and neither can we until they're dealt with," Duncan said.

Soubar is a small town several miles southeast from Boareskyr Bridge. Ralis felt a small wave of relief fall over him, a very relaxing sensation after initially believing that the crusaders destroyed Boareskyr Bridge.

"What about the lieutenant? How did she make it back here alone? Was it crusaders who killed her scouts?" Ralis asked.

"No, it was trolls," Duncan corrected him. "They stumbled onto a troll cave on their way back here. She barely made it back alive. So if you plan on going out scouting, I suggest that you be prudent in your ranging."

At that moment, Mizhena stepped out of the tent and exhaled, rubbing her hands together, and Ralis, Nederlok, Corwin and Duncan looked at her expecting good news or bad news.

"Well? How is she?" Corwin asked.

"Lieutenant Otilda will live another day, praise the Lord of Battles. It took two of my memorized Cure Serious Wounds spells to heal her most life threatening injuries, so she is still wounded, though not as badly as before," Mizhena informed them.

"How did she make it back here alive? I doubt the trolls just let her escape," Ralis said, and what confused him is he saw Duncan smiling at him.

"That's the most interesting part. You won't believe who rescued her."

"Try me," Ralis challenged after crossing his arms skeptically.

Duncan cleared his throat before speaking. "A group of irregulars, half-orcs happened along, slayed the trolls and brought her back here."

"What? Hold on, back up. Irregulars?" Ralis scratched his head in confusion.

"That's what we call the half-orcs that rescued Otilda. They are still here in the camp, kept under close watch. They want to join us in our fight against the crusaders, but Otilda doesn't trust them, and frankly, I understand why. They are half-orcs, after all," Corwin explained.

Ralis sighed in disappointment. "Not all half-orcs are vicious. Some are... misunderstood," he pointed out.

"Even so, they might be crusader spies," Nederlok said.

"I want to speak to these "irregulars". Where are they?" Ralis asked.

"In the red tent heavily guarded by our most capable soldiers," Duncan pointed out to the east, the red tent barely visible several feet behind the tents belonging to the newly recruited dwarves from the Dumathoin mines.

"Thanks. Corwin, come with me," Ralis said, beginning to head for the red tent.

"Yes, sir," Corwin complied as she followed close behind, passing by several Flaming Fist soldiers, tents, Glint, Raypheus and Pfaug.

Like Ducan said, the red tent is guarded by elite ranked Fist soldiers.

"Let us through. We are here to speak to the irregulars," Corwin ordered the guard standing in front of the tent entrance.

Without saying a word, he nodded respectfully at Corwin and Ralis, and stepped aside, allowing them to come into the tent.

Their noses were greeted by the scent of fresh, hot vegetable stew, and three half-orcs were sitting on the ground with steaming bowls of soup in their hands, bringing the spoon full of chopped carrots, celery and other vegetables in broth up to their mouths in between their orc tusks and carefully drank the broth, but as soon as Ralis and Corwin entered the tent, the half-orcs quickly took notice of them. Two of the half-orcs are male, and one is female. Their skin color is the same as Dorn Il-Khan's, the woman has long black hair and hazel eyes, and the men have short cut black hair and gray eyes.

"Easy, no need to get all jittery. My name is Ralis, and this is Captain Corwin. We are here to get familiar with you."

The half-orc woman scoffed. "Why does a human care about half-orcs?" She asked.

"Because word around the camp is you want to join us and fight Caelar Argent's crusaders. If you want to do that, we want to get to know you better, because out in the battlefield, allies need to have trust in each other, otherwise we might expect to get stabbed in the back," Ralis replied.

"An' you expect that because we are half-orcs?" The woman raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

By the tone of her voice, Ralis knew that she has met her share of people who view half-orcs as vicious, uncivilized half-breeds.

"We can get past that if we know each other more. So, let's start by introducing ourselves. What are your names?" Corwin said.

The half-orcs slowly placed their bowls full of soup down on the floor inches in front of their crossed legs.

"My name is Kava," the woman said.

"I am Farrl," the male wearing scale mail armor and boots with shoelaces said.

"I am Rend," the other male wearing +1 studded leather armor said.

"You wanna know more about us? Tough. Now get lost, my soup is getting cold," Kava said rudely.

"I know you don't believe me, but I am not the type of human that judges a person by their race. Why do all of you really want to join us?" Ralis asked.

"Why should we tell you anything?" Rend growled.

"Because I'm the hero of Baldur's Gate, and I killed Sarevok. Who better to tell?" Ralis asked.

Farrl, Rend and Kava seemed convinced now, they looked a bit less tense after Ralis said those words.

"Hmph. You think you deserve to know about us? Fine. Since you won't stop pushing, here's the deal. You fight me and my friends. Fists or flats of blades, nothin' lethal. First side gets someone knocked out loses. We lose, I'll talk. If you lose, you stop talkin'. How's that sound to you?" Rend asked.

"Trial by combat, eh?" All right, let's do this, and we'll do this with our fists," Ralis said.

Farrl grinned in excitement. "Finally, some action!" He exclaimed.

Corwin stepped outside the tent and Ralis followed, with Rend, Farrl and Kava behind him.

* * *

Corwin informed the entire camp that Ralis has accepted a challenge by the irregular half-orcs in order to learn their motives of wanting to join the Flaming Fist. The fight is to take place in the center of the campsite. Ralis had just recently undressed out of his body armor, now he is wearing a white shirt and tan brown pantaloons in preparation for the fight.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Corwin asked Ralis, standing next to him alongside Viconia and Rasaad.

"Three against one? I like the way the odds are stacked against me," Ralis said with confidence while testing the flexibility of his wrists by rolling his hands clockwise, then he stepped into the ring formed by dozens of Flaming Fist soldiers. It took a minute for the half-orcs to show up into the ring afterwards.

Ralis faced Rend, Farrl and Kava, noticing that they too have removed their body armor, wearing only their shirts, pants and boots. Rend and Farrl's muscles bulge slightly under their shirts. When Ralis looked at Kava, he noted that if men who dislike half-breed women with extreme prejudice look beyond the fact that Kava is part orc and part human and have orc tusks protruding from both sides of her mouth, they would see that her muscular but shapely physique offsets her not-so-attractive features.

"Ready when you are!" Rend said with an excited grin.

"Let's dance," Ralis taunted, then they approached him, arms raised up and hands rolled into fists.

Unsurprisingly, while Ralis took what little time he had to cast Call Upon Holy Might on himself so his strength can equal or surpass theirs, Rend was the first to charge at Ralis yelling. He didn't dodge Rend's fist flying at his face, instead, he caught it with his left hand! Everyone gasped in surprise, but Kava and Farrl didn't hesitate, they came at Ralis from both sides. He kicked Rend back, countered Farrl coming at him to his right with a punch to the gut, but Ralis couldn't react in time to counter Kava's attack which came from his right, she tackled him down to the ground, but before she could do any damage to him, Ralis kicked her off and jumped back to his feet to face Rend coming at him. Rend threw a left hook, then right hook, then uppercut, but they all missed because Ralis nimbly dodged them, then he threw a few of his own punches, all of them connecting to the half-orc's face. But unfortunately his luck ran out.

He didn't expect Farrl to recover from being punched in the stomach so quickly, and as the price for underestimating the young half-orc, Farrl, grabbed Ralis from behind, preventing him from breaking free.

"Hold him!" Rend said with a wicked grin as he approached and spit blood from his bleeding mouth.

"Come on, Ralis! Break loose!" A Fist soldier exclaimed.

"You can win this! Let's go!" Another Flaming Fist soldier exclaimed.

"Boo says go for the eyes!" Minsc exclaimed.

"Come on, feldurkin' human! I bet on ye to win the fight, not these blasted half-orcs!" Pfaug exclaimed from somewhere in the crowd.

Unfortunately Ralis couldn't break free, Farrl had a very good grip on him. When Rend got close enough, he began to throw punches at Ralis' chest. He felt all the air being forced out of his lungs and he tried to remain conscious, because if Farrl releases him, he might drop to his knees, and Rend will never explain why he hates Caelar's crusaders. After Rend punched the human seven times, he stepped aside to allow Kava to score some punches at his gut. Ralis tried to squirm out of Farrl's grasp once again when Kava was busy cracking her knuckles in preparation for the punching, but again, Farrl still had a good grip on him.

Out of desperation, Ralis reared his head forward, and as soon as Kava threw an uppercut at his face, he threw his head back, and Kava's uppercut hit his nose, creating more momentum, and Ralis' skull smashed against Farrl's nose, breaking it with a wet crunch, causing him to loosen his grip. Ralis was punched in the nose too, but his nose wasn't broken. As soon as he got loose, he quickly punched a surprised Kava down, then crouched to dodge the overhead swing of Rend's right arm then kicked out with his left leg, slamming it against Rend's right leg, causing his right leg to buckle and he fell on his knee, then Ralis punched his skull, causing Rend to collapse to the ground. And that was it, Ralis Rutela won the duel, and everyone cheered.

"Bravo! Bravo! Good show, if I do say so myself, good show!" Baeloth exclaimed while applauding.

Rend rolled over on his back to look up at Ralis while Kava staggered back up on her feet and Farrl lay on the ground, covering his broken nose with both hands while Mizhena arrived to cast the Cure Minor wounds spell on him.

"All right! All right! You win. I'll tell you what you want to know," Rend conceded.

"Good. Tell me everything," Ralis said, then helped Rend stand up on his feet again.

Rend couldn't believe that a human knocked him down, because when he got punched down, it felt like someone hit him with something as powerful as a sledgehammer.

Rend took a deep breath before speaking, and the entire camp fell silent. "Before I met Kava and Farrl, I was one of a hunting party that ran into the crusade. They gave us a choice: Fight or run like the hells. I don't run, an' they pay well enough."

"So you became one of their soldiers?" Ralis asked.

"I applied to be an elite guard to one of the crusade's greatest generals, a half-orc they call the Barghest."

When Rend said the half-orc general's name, murmurs of concern and worry among the Flaming Fist soldiers began to rise, and Ralis got the feeling that the Barghest is a very notorious name among the people of Baldur's Gate. A half-orc warrior who is apparently named after barghests, fiendish shapeshifting lupine monsters from the outer plane demonic world known as Gehenna warrants caution. The Barghest was one of the bandits who lived in Dragonspear Castle a decade before the first Dragonspear War. Back then, he has ruthlessly fought armies from Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate, butchering many soldiers, and he served under one of Baazka's lieutenants Dahrgash who led the Blood Guard, a unit of soldiers consisting of orcs and hobgoblins that fought against the Daggerford military and their allies during the second Dragonspear War. It's hard to imagine a person like that fighting for Caelar Argent.

"Corwin, Duncan, what can you tell me about the Barghest?" Ralis asked them.

"Only from what I have heard. He's a ruthless half-orc who fought in the second Dragonspear War- he's a legend in mass bloodshed circles, " Corwin explained.

"Stories about him are always told in taverns from Daggerford to Soubar," Duncan added. "I don't know if you've read my report, Ralis, but I heard that he serves Caelar's crusade not as a mercenary out to earn gold or spill blood, but as a loyally devoted mercenary to her cause."

Ralis raised an eyebrow. "The Barghest acting out of loyalty to Caelar? How is that possible?" He asked.

Duncan shook his head. "I know it sounds crazy, but when I was out scouting the activities of the crusade a few months ago, I met a peasant who showed me a letter from his sister when I displayed my skepticism about the Barghest's loyalty to Caelar. The peasant's sister said in the letter that that the Barghest considers himself more of a knight than a mercenary in service to Caelar and holds himself to a standard of honesty and justness."

For Ralis, this is information is too confusing to take in. How can a half-orc who fought for a demon during the second Dragonspear War fight for someone who isn't evil aligned? Then he turned his attention back at Rend. "Why do you want to serve the Barghest so badly?" He asked him.

"You heard what your captains said about him. I looked up to him. He was a powerful warrior- well-respected- how many half-orcs you see in that sorta position? I thought for sure he'd take me into his guard, help a fellow half-orc gain some recognition and respect. But no. He never gave me a chance. I swore I'd get revenge on him turning me down. After that I met Kava and Farrl. When we heard his Blinding White battalion held Boareskyr Bridge, I figured I have a shot," Rend said.

Ralis rubbed his chin in thought. "We seem to share the same enemy. Best for all that we fight him together. What else can you tell me about the crusade?" He asked.

Rend was obviously worried that he would be executed for having ties to the crusade, but he felt relieved now.

"Thank you. I was only with 'em a little while. There's two kinds of crusaders: the mercenaries and the true believers. The mercenaries tend to be the better fighters, but the "illuminated" are the dangerous ones. Fanatics, ready- no, HAPPY to die for the cause. Don't underestimate them." Rend said.

"That's all you can tell, us?" Corwin asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Rend nodded, then wiped sweat off his forehead. "Lieutenant Kharm's the dwarf who trains the Blinding White battalion's new recruits... That help you?"

"It might," Ralis shrugged.

"We got things to do now. Maybe we'll talk more later," Rend said then he and Kava and Farrl walked back to their tents to take care of their bruises.

As for Ralis, his chest still ached with pain from the punishment delivered by Rend. Corwin walked up to him.

"Are you all right? Do you need healing?" She asked.

"No, I'm fine, just bruised bones, that's all," he replied and gave her a reassuring smile.

"If you say so," she said.

"What I need right now is some ale and a bowl of soup," Ralis said.

Everyone slowly broke away from the ring, resuming their duties.

Ralis passed by Rasaad having a chat with Patrescus and Soralis.

"So you are a Sun Soul monk, eh? You're the first monk I ever met," Ralis heard Patrescus say when he passed by.

"I worry that I might be the last," Rasaad said sullenly.

Ralis didn't hear what Patrescus said in reply because he has moved too far away to hear Rassad and Patrescus' voices among the chatter of the people around him in the campsite.

Up ahead he saw Bence Duncan doing exercise drills with several Flaming Fist soldiers. duncan would bark out an order, and the soldiers would make a certain move with their swords in their hands. Ralis paused and watched Duncan instruct his soldiers like a strict drill sergeant would.

"Hold!" Duncan barked out suddenly, then the soldier froze in place.

Duncan took a long hard look at the soldiers lined up in front of him and must have realized that someone is absent.

"I don't see Goldbuckler here! Where is Fist Goldbuckler?!" He exclaimed.

"Sir! I-I-I don't know, sir!" a man with beige green eyes stammered nervously.

Groaning in frustration, Duncan turned on his heel and marched towards Skie's tent, and Ralis followed, hoping that Duncan does not lose his temper around her. Skie's tent is a black and red striped tent adjacent from Mizhena's tent. Duncan paused in front of the tent and exclaimed: "Goldbuckler! I know you are in there! Come out!"

He fell silent and waited for a reply from Skie, but none came.

"... I'm your commanding officer, Fist Goldbuckler! Get out of that tent!" Duncan barked.

Less than four seconds later, Skie groggily stepped out of her tent, wearing only her white and blue polka dotted pajamas. She rubbed her eyes with her hands for a few seconds and stared at Duncan with upset, groggy eyes.

"What do you want NOW, Bence?" She grunted in annoyance.

"It's Corporal Duncan, Fist. Why aren't you doing drills with the rest of your squad?" Duncan asked, lowering his voice a bit, but still sounding like an angry drill sergeant.

"I've got better things to do," Skie huffed, squinting her eyes because her eyes haven't adjusted to the brightness of the daylight around her.

"You joined the Flaming Fist willingly, Skie. You chose subservience. Drills are a consequence of that choice," Ralis said.

"What would you have me do? March back and forth in the muck with the other addlepates?" Skie asked in an irritated tone.

"If that is your commanding officer's order, then yes. You need to do this, Skie. If you don't, Entar will never see you as anything but a child," Ralis replied evenly.

Skie frowned while placing her hands on her waist then looked up at the sky, trying to suppress her anger. "Bringing Daddy into this? That's LOW," she fumed then sighed in defeat. "Show me where the addleplates are again, Bence. I guess I've got some mud to march around in."

Duncan smiled in relief then turned to ralis and shook his hand. "You have my thanks, Ralis. Come on, Goldbuckler. Let's get you back to the drills."

Skie nodded, then went back into her tent to get dressed into her standard issue rookie Flaming fist body armor.

When they left, Ralis headed for Corwin who is speaking to Lieutenant Otilda, who had just been fully healed recently thanks to a few healing potions that Belegarm had. Otilda is a fair skinned woman roughly a few inches shorter than Corwin, her black hair is slightly longer than Corwin's but never reaching down to her neck, and her eyes are brown colored.

"Lieutenant. Good to see you up and healthy. How are you feeling?" Ralis asked her by way of greeting.

"I have a slight headache, but I am doing fine, sir. I was just having a discussion with Captain Corwin about the possibility of mounting an assault on the crusaders near Bridgefort," Otilda replied.

"Are you sure that is our only option, Lieutenant?" Ralis asked skeptically.

"I was going to ask her the same thing. The crusaders don't even know that we are here yet. We could use this to our advantage,' Corwin told Ralis.

"By the way, those half-orcs that rescued you, I learned a few things about them, Lieutenant. They are not spies, they really want to help us attack the crusade," Ralis said.

Otiilda raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Are you sure about that? What makes you think those savages can be trusted?"

"Because I learned that they were betrayed by an half-orc in the crusader ranks that they looked up to. The Barghest," Ralis replied.

"THE Barghest from the Dragonspear Wars is fighting with the crusaders? Hmm. Very well, I'll let them fight with us, but if they betray us, I will hold you personally responsible," Otilda warned Ralis.

"I'm sure that won't ever happen," Ralis said with certainty.

Otilda nodded and walked away, leaving Corwin and Ralis alone, except for the soldiers walking around them.

"So, what's our next step, hero?" Corwin asked him.

Ralis frowned in confusion. "You're asking me? I'm no military tactician," he said, pointing at himself.

"You don't need to be. Do you thin we should attack the crusaders or scout them out?" Corwin replied.

Ralis thought over the options. If they attack the crusaders near Bridgefort head on, they might miss out on some valuable information about them. But if they a small scouting party goes to Bridgefort, the crusaders might assume them to be mercenaries rather that Flaming Fist soldiers.

"I think scouting the crusaders is the best option. We might learn more about them if we do that," Ralis suggested.

He saw Corwin curve her lips into a smile, a sign that she agreed with him.

"Good thinking," she simply said.

"The first thing we should do is assemble our scouting party. I want you with me, Rasaad, Minsc, Dynaheir, Glint, M'Khiin and Safana," Ralis said.

"All right. I'll tell them to get ready," Corwin said, then walked away.

* * *

In seven minutes, everyone Ralis selected to go scouting with him were prepared and ready to go. They marched north, steadily putting more and more distance between themselves and the campsite. M'Khiin walked ahead of Ralis and Corwin because no one else was comfortable with a goblin walking behind them. But Glint, it didn't matter to him. And the mild wind was blowing from the east, so everyone was relived that the wind was not blowing M'Khiin's sour body odor in their direction. Ralis didn't want to kick M'khiin out of his group, but he did not want to continually catch a whiff of her soiled clothing and leathers, it made him feel a bit nauseated, and surely Corwin and the others feel the same way.

"Would you remind me again of why Ralis decided to let a goblin tag along with us?" Safana asked Rasaad.

"I do not know, but if he will tolerate the goblin, so too will I," Rasaad replied.

Safana grunted in frustration.

"Hello? Is there anyone with a sane mind here?" Safana exclaimed in exasperation. "Goblins are not cuddly creatures you would want to keep as a pet!"

"We are not meant to be pets," M'Khiin answered Safana in her usual casual tone. "I never knew any goblin who was fine with being a pet or slave. Then again, who would like to be a pet or slave? Not me."

"That's beside the point. Urrgh, forget it!" Safana groaned.

"Shh! Quiet! There could be trolls or crusaders lurking nearby. We wouldn't want to draw their attention," Corwin ordered.

The next six minutes passed with complete silence among the group. The winds died down a bit then picked up from time to time, and occasionally a moose or deer would pass by.

"Boo has a message for you," Minsc said, tapping Safana's left shoulder while walking behind her.

"For me? From who?" She looked back at Minsc, with a puzzled expression.

"It is from Boo. He would like to say that you are a very pretty lady, yes, and, Boo has excellent taste, so, this is quite a compliment. Uh, relish it," Minsc said while rubbing the back of his neck with his left arm, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Safana couldn't help arching one of her eyebrows in amusement. If what Minsc said is true, this is the very first time a rodent complimented her beauty.

"Your rat thinks I'm pretty, hmm? That's adorable," she said with a smile.

"Boo is no rat! He is a miniature giant space hamster! Do not offend him, lest he nibble your ears off in your sleep!" Minsc exclaimed.

"Rat, hamster, what's the difference?" Safana asked while rolling her eyes.

Minsc let out a soft gasp. "What's the difference?" He repeated then sighed in disappointment. "Oh, Safana, you have so much to learn."

"You've given me much to think about. Why don't you bother someone else while I do so? Good boy."

"Flaming Fist?" M'Khiin asked Corwin all of a sudden.

Corwin frowned, not understanding what question the goblin is asking.

"I'm a captain of the Flaming Fist, if that is what you're asking," Corwin replied.

"Fist killed my brother. And my cousin. And my other brother. And my uncle. And two of my other brothers," M'Khiin stated, but there was no hint of malice or anger in her voice, much to Safana, Ralis, Corwin and Rasaad's confusion.

Losing that many family members would drive any other person insane for revenge, but M'Khiin talked casually about it as if it mattered little to her.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Corwin said, and she doubted that she sounded sincere. It didn't matter, she never expected to say those words to a goblin, but she believed it is polite to show some sympathy whether she actually felt it or not.

M'Khiin shrugged indifferently while they kept walking. "Didn't like most of them. One of my cousins was all right. Didn't know him that well. Got a spear shoved through his face," she said.

Corwin's confused frown sharpened slightly. She had never spoken to a goblin before, so she knew speaking to M'Khiin would potentially change her views on goblins a little, and she knew it will happen someday, if they get along fine, she could feel it in her bones.

"You're not like any other goblin I've encountered, you know that?" Corwin asked M'Khiin.

She looked back up at her.

"You're not like any Flaming Fist I've met. Haven't tried to kill me. Yet."

"We have no reason to kill you, smelly goblin. As long as you do not try to hurt us, Minsc and Boo might consider you a friend," Minsc said.

"Hm. Never had any of those," M'khiin said, then the rest of their walk went on with silence. "As for calling me a smelly goblin, I've been called worse," she added.

Five minutes later, Ralis and the others encountered a small group of trolls. With the fire arrows he and Corwin obtained from Belegarm's stock of weapons, they killed the trolls easily, and continued moving on through the forest towards Boareskyr Bridge.

Several minutes later they were one mile north from the Flaming Fist campsite and two miles south from Boareskyr Bridge and Bridgefort. Glint couldn't help admiring the beauty of his surroundings, the trees, the blue sky, the wildlife, everything. He took in a deep breath and exhaled.

"This is the life, isn't it? Breathing fresh air, meeting new people, some of whom aren't trying to kill us, just... adventuring. I love it. Love it," he said.

Ralis smiled. He is pleased to know that Glint is such a carefree, happy person. I wish I could be in his shoes, enjoy life with no worries... Ralis thought to himself.

"I admire your enthusiasm," he said out loud to Glint without looking back at him.

"My enthusiasm is pretty impressive, but don't let it blind you to my other endearing qualities."

"Well then, I look forward to learning about them firsthand. We will be great friends, Glint Gardenersonson. Or would you rather I call you Three-Eyes?" Ralis asked.

"Please, call me Glint. Three-Eyes sounds more pleasant on your lips than my mother's, but most of my friends call me Glint. The very close ones call me... well, I don't want to brag," Glint said, then chuckled. "Glint Gardenersonson, friends with the hero of Baldur's Gate. Who'd have thought?"

They didn't realize it, but because of how the terrain is formed, they were forced to move northeast, and they found themselves in what looks like a trench, the sides are made of stone stuck into the soil. The trench didn't last long, soon they were able to get back up to ground level, and eventually they found the road that will take them northwest to Boareskyr Bridge and southeast to Soubar. As soon as they reached the road, however, a group of bandits jumped out form behind the trees on the other side of the road, possibly waiting for a caravan to ambush, but instead, they found a group of adventurers to ambush. There are seven bandits, one woman, all men, the woman and most of the men are human, and one is a halfling.

"Hold! There's a toll to pass through here. Give us yer gold or we'll take yer life!" The bandit leader said, who happened to be a halfling with large brown sideburns and old, rusty splint mail armor.

Before Ralis and his group could reply or act, one of the bandits spoke up.

"Hold a moment, Stumfel. I've seen that man before," the bandit said, pointing at Ralis.

Everyone fell into confusion at his remark.

"What do ye mean?" Stumfel asked, mildly irritated.

The bandit leaned forward, squinting his eyes to get a better look at Ralis.

"... I saw him when I did that job for the Iron Throne..." His eyes suddenly widened in fear. "Oh gods- it's him! the hero of the Gate, Sarevok's slayer! _HELP ME! I DON'T WANNA DIE LIKE SAREVOK!_ " The bandit ran off screaming down the road towards Soubar.

Ralis, his group and the bandit watched the terrified bandit run away, his screams slowly fading in the distance.

"Lebass! Get back here, ye wingein' faintheart!" Stumfel exclaimed, but Lebass is too far away to hear him, but he wouldn't come back anyway, not with Ralis close by.

"Bloody hells," Stumfel cursed, then he began to chase after Lebass, the rest of his bandits following him. "When I catch ye, I'm gonna kick ye in the head till ye're dead!"

With the bandits gone, Ralis and his group moved along the road northwest towards Boreskyr Bridge. Three minutes after their encounter with the bandits, they found several bodies strewn along the road. Two humans, two ogres, all males, wearing body armor with the emblem of a sun cresting over the horizon. The emblem of Caelar's crusaders. Ralis and the others noticed that the dead crusaders have several gashes in their armor, exposing fatal wounds that causes fresh blood to leak out.

Suddenly, they were waylaid once again, this time by two people, one man, one woman. The man wore a strange helmet that resembled a cone shaped nasal helmet, a very long thin metal bar extended down from the front of the helmet shielding his nose and mouth. The man wore bright brown studded leather armor, his gold hair and beard is very long and straight, and he wields a battle ax as his weapon of choice, no shield. The ax's blade is bloodstained, hinting that he and his partner are the ones responsible for the deaths of the patrolling crusaders on the road.

"Prepare to meet your end, puppets of Caelar!" The man snarled, holding his battle axe ready to strike.

"Hold, Voghiln!" The woman behind him commanded. "They do not wear crusader colors."

The man calmed down and remembered that all soldiers of Caelar's crusade generally wear silver and white uniforms, and have emblems of the sun rising over the horizon on their uniforms and body armor. Apparently Ralis and his group had none of those.

"Oh. Ja, you are right,' he said to the woman. "Who are you, stranger?" He asked Ralis.

"I am Ralis, the hero of Baldur's Gate come to..." Ralis let his voice trail off when his eyes focused in the woman, he found her very familiar, and in seconds realized that he knew her! "Jaheira? Is that you?"

"Ralis?" Jaheira frowned in surprise and confusion. "You're supposed to be in Baldur's Gate. What are you doing here?"

"Marching to Dragonspear Castle with the Flaming Fist to fight against Caelar and her crusade. And you? Where is Khalid?"

"When you put an end to the iron crisis, Khalid and I decided to travel to Bridgefort, thinking it would make for a pleasant respite from Baldur's Gate. And it was- until the crusade took Boareskyr Bridge. I was trapped outside Bridgefort, Khalid within," Jaheira explained.

"I see. Well, join me, you and your friend, and together we will help liberate Bridgefort from the crusaders," Ralis offered.

"Yes. Together we are more powerful than apart. I shall join you," Jaheira agreed.

"You would have this ragged beast join us? I thought you a man of better taste," Safana chastised Ralis.

"You have not seen a looking glass in some time, or you would hold your tongue," Jaheira retorted as she approached Ralis and his group, leaving the man by himself in front of everyone.

"So the gentle Jaheira will go at this man's side? And, ah, what shall Voghiln do in the meantime?"

"Who is this guy?" Ralis pointed at Voghiln, speaking to Jaheira.

"Forgive me, Ralis. This is Voghiln of Luskan. A bit too lusty, but a worthy fighter. We would have been taken by the crusade were it not for him," Jaheira said.

"Ja! I am quite handy in a fight, I can assure you!" Voghiln said with a confident grin under his thick golden beard.

Ralis found his accent to be... very strange (There's no other way I can say it without breaking the 4th wall, but Voghiln has a German-like accent).

"Well, you are welcome to come with me too, Voghiln. Any friend of Jaheira's is a friend of mine," Ralis said.

"Good!" Voghiln exclaimed then approached the group and stood between Jaheira and Corwin. "It feels good to be part of a group, ja?"

"Welcome aboard, friend," Rasaad said.

"Likewise, likewise! So, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Voghiln replied.

And so everyone moved forward across the road towards Boreskyr Bridge.


	8. Chapter 8 Mind Over Matter part 2

"I'm curious, M'Khiin, what was your life like before this? What's it like being a goblin?" Glint asked as he continued with his companions up the road towards Boareskyr Bridge.

"What's it like being a gnome?" M'Khiin threw her own question back at him.

Glint shrugged. "Depends on the gnome, really. I get to go places and do things and meet new people. And being a gnome, I get away with some pretty crazy things," Glint said cheerfully.

"Being a goblin isn't like that at all," M'Khiin replied.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Glint said with sympathy in his tone.

"Used to it," M'Khiin shrugged indifferently.

"I don't see how you can get used to that, M'khiin," Ralis chimed in.

"With practice. Plenty of practice."

"Maybe no one likes you because goblins are hideous little creatures, inside and out," Safana taunted M'khiin.

"Maybe."

"You're agreeing with me?" Safana blinked in surprise.

"Lived with goblins all my life. They are ugly. Think you know, but you don't."

"You know, ordinary people are boring people. But you, you are NOT ordinary people," Glint said.

"Thanks, I guess," M'khiin replied.

"Thou art like no other goblin I have ever met, M'khiin," Dynaheir said from behind M'khiin.

"What's a "thou"?" M'khiin asked, looking up at Dynaheir in confusion.

With M'khiin walking near her, Dynaheir's nose caught the foul scent of M'khiin's smelly leathers and tried her best to ignore it.

"Hmph. In truth, I've not given the matter much consideration before now. *sigh*... How do I explain this... well, uh... Thou art thou."

"So "thou" means "you"," M'khiin guessed.

"Thou hast the truth of it. That is exactly right."

"Why just say "you"? It's easier. But talk how you want. Doesn't matter, as long as you're happy. Thou are happy."

"Thou art," Dynaheir corrected the goblin.

"Huh?" M'khiin looked up at Dynaheir with a puzzled frown.

"Never thee mind," Dynaheir groaned, and their conversation ended there.

The group walked on for the next two minutes in silence afterwards, and that was when Rasaad decided to speak to Corwin.

"May I have a word, Captain Corwin?" He asked her.

"No. You can have five," she replied.

Rasaad looked puzzled. "I am sorry, I do not... Oh, that is six right there. *gasp* Eleven now. I am sorry," he said, feeling uneasy and a bit flustered.

"I thought monks were supposed to be serene. It was a joke, Rasaad. What can I do for you?" Corwin cast a curious glance at Rasaad.

"I was wondering if you had heard of any unusual disappearances of late, in Baldur's Gate or elsewhere."

Corwin stroked her chin in thought before replying to the monk. "As opposed to the usual disappearances?" She asked.

"Before I left the city, several of my sect disappeared. More than can be explained by coincidence. I fear the followers of Selune have been targeted," Rasaad said, his voice fraught with concern and worry.

Corwin continued stroking her chin thoughtfully. "... Now that you mention it, I did hear a couple Selunites went missing. One was seen struggling with several robed figures, as I recall. The Fist started investigating, but with the iron crisis and now Caelar, we're spread pretty thin. I don't know what came of it, if anything," she explained.

"Thank you for this information. Believe me when I say, it is much appreciated," Rasaad said, then abandoned himself to his thoughts.

Corwin could clearly see that the monk has lot on his mind. She felt curious, but she had a feeling that prying into his troubled thoughts would be somewhat impolite, unless he feels the need to tell her anything.

"So, Voghiln, what are you, exactly?" Ralis asked the man.

"Huh? What do you mean what am I? I don't understand your question, my young friend. If you are asking if I am human, you are not wrong, I am human."

"Well, I'm trying to figure you out. You don't strike me as a fighter or barbarian. You carry two battle axes, and I also see that you have a lute strapped behind your back, so I assume that you are a bard, maybe?"

"Ho ho!" Voghiln chortled. "You have very perceptive eyes, Ralis. It is true, I am a bard, but what I have here is no ordinary lute! This is a doss lute, a lute with many magical abilities and carved from fine alder wood! Beautiful, is it not? As for myself, I am no ordinary bard!"

"Oh?" Ralis lifted his left eyebrow in curiosity.

" _Ja_ , what I say is true. I am a College of Valor bard, also known as a skald!"

Ralis fell silent for a few seconds, wondering what is so special about this big reveal. "... Uh, I don't get it. What makes ?"

"Oh, I see you are not a well-traveled person, my friend. Skalds do more than sing about the heroes we have learned or heard about, we also try to imitate their personality and combat styles too!"

"That's amazing! I see they don't say that imitation is the highest form of flattery for nothing!" Glint said enthusiastically.

"Ah, interesting," Ralis smirked.

" _Ja_ , it is very interesting," Voghiln said with a pleased smile.

"So you have spent your entire life learning the tales of your people then, Voghiln?" Rasaad asked.

Voghiln looked back at Rasaad and nodded. "Each story has as many versions as there are elders to tell it. Each skald must take the pieces, and make the tale his own."

Rasaad frowned and scratched his head, wondering how can skalds tell a tale that does not have enough details to flawlessly validate its historical accuracy. "How can you be sure what you are telling is true, then?"

"Ho ho! Is it truth you are seeking, or is it facts? Facts are simple. They are constant. Anyone can be learning facts. Truths, though... this is not so simple," Voghiln replied.

"But ultimately... there can be but one truth. THE truth. Is this not so?" Rasaad asked, his mind reeling from the thought of skalds telling tales that are not entirely accurate.

Voghiln couldn't help but smile and shake his head. He was a bit disappointed that Rasaad doesn't understand that not all of the details of a hero's story are exaggerated. Most, if not some facts are based around the truths of a hero's deeds. But as the years roll forward, decades and centuries after the hero's lifetime, the pieces that detail the truths of the tale become more and more hard to find because the story itself endures in the memories of the people who heard about it, and not everyone's memories are perfect, or they can have their own interpretations of that story, and as a result, stories can end up having one or two versions, maybe more, and when bards hear an inspiring tale from someone, they learn as much as they can about the hero, they don't worry much about how accurate the details of the tale is, as long as it makes sense. If skalds spend all their time seeking all of the details of a tale that have been long lost in the passage of time, they might as well be wild goose chasers than inspirational storytellers or songwriters. Besides, from Voghiln's point of view, the freedom of interpretation makes telling tales more interesting and less bland.

"You would make a poor skald, my friend," he said to the monk.

Rasaad said nothing in reply, he just let the conversation end there wondering why skalds aren't focused on finding the entire truth of the tales they tell.

"Voghiln, thou art from the North, are thou not?" Dynaheir asked from behind Voghiln.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the beautiful chocolate skinned woman walking alongside the big muscular bald man next to her.

"Ja, this is true, I've called Luskan home for many years, so I often venture out into the cold and snow of the Spine of the World," he replied while slowing down so he can walk next to Dynaheir to her left, while Minsc is to her right.

"I have never been to thy city. Perhaps when my task is complete, I will venture there and see it for myself," Dynaheir said.

While she was speaking, Voghiln, out of curiosity, took great caution to take quick glances down at the smooth curve of her left bosom partially hidden under her robes every time he blinked his eyes. He knew that there were other parts of her body that made her beautiful, like her brown eyes, her chocolate colored skin which brightens slightly in the sunlight and shoulder length black hair, but it was the curve of Dynaheir's busty chest that caught the middle-aged skald's attention to the point when he felt something in his pantaloons slowly rising, and he hoped that it wouldn't rise too far and stiffen to the point where he would need to bend over and hold his codpiece with both hands and waddle. Fortunately it didn't rise far enough to make him walk awkwardly. He was also unsure of her relationship with Minsc, if they were friends or more, but he felt confident that he will find out sooner or later.

"If you would be liking a personal guide, beauteous one, I know a skald that may be able to help you out. I cannot recommend him highly enough! Ho ho!" Voghiln laughed a hearty, joyous laugh.

Dynaheir did not smile, but she did nod. "I shall consider this. For now, I will settle for hearing more tales of your land," she said.

 _Ja, I think I can settle with that for now,_ Voghiln thought to himself with a pleased smile, relieved that Dynaheir didn't reject his recommendation. "So, what tale would you like to hear me tell?" He asked aloud.

No one replied to him, everyone is focused on walking, and up ahead, Ralis, Corwin and Safana saw what looked like a palisade barely come into view 700 yards ahead of them.

"What's that? I think my eyes are playing tricks on me," Ralis pointed ahead.

"I think we are getting close. Everyone act casual. We need the crusaders to think we are unaligned mercenaries," Corwin instructed.

Rasaad looked over at Corwin with skepticism.

"Do you really think this will work?" He asked.

"I'm certain of it. I seriously doubt the crusaders would be so quick to attack mercenaries looking for a job," Corwin said with certainty.

Ralis, walking beside Corwin glanced at the breastplate of her form fitting chainmail armor to check and see if it does not have the Flaming Fist emblem on it, otherwise their cover will be blown as soon as they get to Bridgefort. And as luck would have it, Corwin's chainmail armor does not have the Flaming Fist emblem on it anywhere. At that moment, Corwin turned her head and noticed Ralis staring at her armor.

"What?" She asked but not in anger, just curiosity.

Ralis gasped and averted his eyes. "Nothing. I'm sorry," he apologized.

Corwin didn't want to drop the matter. "Before, you were honest and forthcoming about your feelings. Why are you acting different now?"

"I... I was just checking to see if your body armor had the Flaming Fist symbol on it or not, otherwise the crusaders will immediately know where our allegiances lie," Ralis said.

"Oh. That's it?" She asked.

Ralis frowned. "What do you mean? Is there something special about your body armor?" He asked.

"There is. My father, Audamar, commissioned the Flaming Fist to craft this armor for me to wear when I was a new recruit a decade ago."

"How does it feel, wearing it?" Ralis asked, noticing how the armor fits too perfectly on Corwin's body.

"Despite it being made of riveted chains, it is quite comfortable. Normally it is uncomfortable for an archer like myself to wear chainmail armor, but this armor is special."

"Oh, nice," Ralis said. He wanted to say more, but he kept it to himself.

"Friend Jaheira, in your travels, you have seen strange and wonderful creatures, yes?" Minsc asked her.

"Many, yes," Jaheira nodded in agreement.

"And in your journeys, have you perhaps encountered a... miniature giant space hamster other than Boo? A _female_ miniature giant space hamster...?"

Voghiln chortled at Minsc's question, and Jaheira immediately scowled sharply at Minsc.

"I think we have more important things to do than this, don't you?" She asked Minsc rather irritably.

"Are you sure? Boo is restless," Minsc said.

 _Ho ho, I can relate,_ Voghiln remarked in his thoughts.

The rest of the party's walk towards Bridgefort went on with silence.

* * *

They slowly drew nearer and nearer to the palisade up ahead, and when they got 140 yards close, they could see five crusaders guarding the palisade's gates, and they could hear the sound of shouting from inside the palisade walls.

"Looks like the crusaders still have Bridgefort under siege," Jaheira commented.

"Caelar's servants may take Bridgefort, but I'm not inclined to let them have it without a fight," Corwin said.

When the party got 50 yards close to the guards guarding the closed gates, the crusader up front, a human woman clad in full plate mail armor and a helmet that barely hides her long brown hair, and armed with a halberd as her weapon of choice, probably a captain or sergeant, stepped forward to halt Ralis and his party.

"Hold! Who goes there?" She called, holding her right hand out in a signal telling the newcomers to stop approaching.

"We are but humble pilgrims who's journeyed far to join the Shining Lady's cause," Ralis replied.

The crusader sergeant sighed, shaking her head slowly. "You're too late. Caelar accepts all people of good faith to her cause, but good faith is hard to come by of late," she said.

"What do you mean?" Ralis asked.

"Before you and your party, many have attempted to enter the camp under false pretenses, hoping to find a way to retake Boareskyr Bridge. The Barghest has declared that none who haven't proven themselves will be allowed within until Bridgefort has fallen and the provisions stored there are ours," the crusader sergeant said.

"All right. So what should we do to prove ourselves to The Barghest?" Ralis asked.

"Actually, Lieutenant Kharm is the one you want to impress. He handles new recruits. Kharm's nephew, Keherrem, vanished with his squad nearly a tenday ago while seeking a wardstone that might get us into Bridgefort and let us break their defenses. Kharm is quite close to his nephew- we all are. He's a fine lad, he's got a great future ahead of him if he's a future ahead of them all. Find Keherrem and his squad, and you'll have a friend in Kharm, and Kharm's friendship is the only thing that will get you into this camp anytime soon. Now go, be on your way, I've distractions enough without you yammering at me."

"All right. We'll be on our way. Where did Keherrem and his squad march off to? Do you know?" Ralis asked.

The sergeant stroked her chin in thought. "I don't rightly know where exactly they went. All I do know is they headed northeast towards the outskirts of the Forest of Wyrms not too far from here. But be careful in those forests. I heard that green dragons dwell in the forest, which is why it is called "Forest of Wyrms". May the light shine upon you."

Even with that small piece of information the crusader sergeant gave, it seems to indirectly correspond with what Duncan wrote in his report, Corwin realized. She remembered that in his report, Duncan said that he met a nervous mage in Bridgefort who claimed that for the past few years, an adult green dragon has frequently been spotted in the forests northeast from Bridgefort. Something about that dragon terrified the mage even though the dragon never directly attacked Bridgefort. Duncan also said in his report that other people who take refuge in Bridgefort who have seen this dragon believe that it probably guards something nearby, a great treasure hoard or perhaps a dungeon lair. If there is a cavern near the Forest of Wyrms, then that is most likely the place where Keherrem and his squad went, and if the dragon has a treasure hoard, it is possible that the wardstone they are looking for to get into the back entrance of Bridgefort is there among the treasure. And so Ralis and his party headed northeast towards the western outskirts of the Forest of Wyrms, fighting their way past any predator that got in their way like tigers and bears. Along the way, Corwin explained to everyone and Ralis that according to what the crusader sergeant said and what Duncan mentioned in his report, she believes that Keherrem and his team have probably ventured into a cavern of some kind belonging to a green dragon, believing that the green dragon might be guarding something important like the wardstone. Ralis and Voghiln didn't feel enthusiastic about specifically looking for a cavern belonging to a green dragon a few miles northeast from Bridgefort, but at least they have a nearly solid lead.

"What you heard from that report might be linked to what I know," Jaheira interjected. "Because I know who took the wardstone."

"How will this wardstone help us get into Bridgefort, by the way?" Corwin asked.

"There is a magic circle behind the fort that can teleport a small number of people in and out of the fort. If we can find the activation wardstone, we can use it on the magic circle to enter Bridgefort as well," Jaheira replied.

"How do you know the wardstone had been stolen?" Ralis asked.

"A couple months ago, shortly after the crusade arrived, the wardstone disappeared, lost in the chaos of getting everyone into the fort. I witnessed a woman in a purple robe near where the wardstone was lost- likely a priest of Cyric. There is a temple of Bhaal not too far northeast from Bridgefort, rumored to be converted into the the worship of Cyric. Voghiln and I plan on finding it, not just to find the wardstone to get into Bridgefort, but to see if there is any sign of the mad god's disciples. It is the slimmest of hope, but it IS hope," Jaheira said.

"Damn right it is. At least we got a good lead," Ralis said, leading his group deeper into the forest.

* * *

They walked through the forest for nineteen hours ever since they left the Bridgefort palisade entrance and it is nightfall now, the moon is high in the sky and the stars glitter in the night sky. Fortunately they can be seen even among the forest trees, and Ralis and Rasaad found some comfort glancing up at them as they walked.

"The Moonmaiden smiles upon us tonight," Rasaad remarked.

"Who?" Glint chimed in.

"The Moonmaiden, Selûne. You have not heard of her before, Glint?" Rasaad asked, glancing over at the gnome in confusion after passing by a thin tree.

"I am a little familiar with Selûne, yes. The goddess of the moon and stars, right? I love the moon and stars, the way they provide some light in darkness, because as a worshiper of Baravar Cloakshadow, I rely on the darkness to do all kinds of sneaky things," Glint said.

"The darkness has its benefits, I agree, but we must never forget about the benefits the light can bring. Some days I fear the Moonmaiden no longer smiles upon me," Rasaad said sullenly.

While Glint and Rasaad were talking, Ralis, Voghiln, Minsc, Dynaheir and Safana stayed alert for any predators that might ambush them.

"So you are a druid, right, Jaheira?" Corwin asked.

"That is what I am. And you are a ranger archer, are you not?"

"Yes. What is life like spending most of your time in the wilderness? I fail to see how you could get used to being out somewhere where any predator can jump out at you at any moment without warning," Corwin said.

"If you think nature is simply about predators hunting prey, then you have a pathetically limited view of nature, Captain Corwin. Once you understand how to live among nature rather than the bustling, crowded, polluted cities, then one day you will understand," Jaheira said.

"I'll try to understand when I need to. Right now, all that matters is stopping Caelar's crusade so that my daughter can grow up living the most peaceful and healthy life possible."

"How can you offer your daughter a peaceful life when there is more dangers in cities than in nature?" Jaheira asked Corwin as the continued moving through the woods.

Corwin was about to speak, but she and everyone else froze temporarily when they heard an owl hoot nearby.

"The grass isn't always greener on the other side, Jaheira. I just do the best I can for Rohma," Corwin said after the owl stopped hooting.

Jaheira shook her head and sighed. "I could not live as you live, Captain Corwin. Always in the city, away from the green, such a life would be unbearable."

"Rohma makes it bearable," Corwin replied. "Trees and grass are fine, but she's what I really have trouble being away from."

Jaheira nodded in agreement, her thoughts drifting to Khalid, wondering how he is faring in Bridgefort.

"It was not always easy for Khalid and I to maintain our bond while we traveled. But we found our ways. "

Corwin felt her eyes begin to sting, and she knew that tears would follow up soon, but she did nothing to stop them. "I hope Rohma knows my heart is always with her. But she's still a child. I worry." She began to sob.

Ralis, overhearing Corwin's conversation with Jaheira let Minsc take the lead and slowed down to walk beside Corwin and place a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"There there, it's okay," Ralis said in a soothing tone.

The rest of their walk went on undisturbed by any predator, except one hour later, they heard a creature roar nearby. Everyone froze, drawing their weapons.

"What was that?" Safana asked, pointing her bow and arrow up at the trees around them, expecting a creture to jump down at them from one of the branches.

"That was too loud to be a bear or tiger's roar," Voghiln said, holding his two axes at the ready.

They heard the roar again.

"That must be the roar of a green dragon nearby," Glint said.

"Impossible! That crusader back at Bridgefort says that not all green dragons reside in the parts of the Forest of Wyrms close to Soubar. Those who do are practically asking to be hunted," Ralis said in denial. The thought of facing a living, breathing dragon for the first time in his life made him a bit nervous.

They heard the roar again, but this time, it abruptly stopped.

"What happened?" Rasaad wondered.

"I don't know, but I hope we don't find out," Ralis said and they continued on northwest.

* * *

A minute later they entered a clearing, the grass is short, and the clearing seems to be 40 meters wide on both sides, and in the center of the clearing is four hill giants, armed with clubs as thick as the trees around them had a 16 year old young green dragon that is two times bigger than a sub-adult tiger, surrounded. To Ralis and the others, the young green dragon looked more like a young black dragon because its scales are dark green, and because of the night, with light provided by the moon up above, the young dragon's scales appeared to be more darker than it normally is. The scales become more brighter as the young dragon grows older. The young dragon wasn't scared of the hill giants at all, or maybe it was trying not to be scared, even though it knew it is outnumbered.

" _So green, so delicious!_ " One of the hill giants said in Jotunhaug, the ancient language of giants, with a grin, showing his rotting teeth.

"Only a fool dares to attack a dragon!" The young dragon said fearlessly, speaking Common.

Ralis and the others were close enough to hear the young dragon speak, its voice sounded like a twelve year old schoolgirl's.

One of the giants teased the dragon by stabbing at it with his club, and the provoked dragon reacted by breathing a cloud of chlorine gas at the giant, but the gas cloud evaporated before it could reach the hill giant's face, making him and his partners laugh.

" _We going to cook dragon stew tonight!_ " Another hill giant exclaimed.

The young green dragon now began to realize that there is no way she can survive without assistance from someone. She looked around frantically until she saw Ralis standing near the trees twelve feet away in the southwestern corner of the clearing. She didn't see his party members standing behind him because they were perfectly cloaked in the shadows with the trees.

"You there, human! Come to my aid and I will make it worth your while!" The young dragon called to Ralis.

Fortunately none of the hill giants surrounding her understood Common, so they never wondered who she was speaking to.

"Cowards. They only attack the dragon 'cause it's runty and weak," M'khiin said in disgust.

"Such is the way of nature. The strong survive and the weak perish. We should not interfere," Jaheira said.

Ralis frowned and glanced back at Jaheira. "Damn, Jaheira, you almost sound like Viconia there. Let's defy nature for today, shall we?" He said to her, then stepped forward, wielding his bow, pulling an arrow out of his quiver, took aim at one of the giants and fired.

"What? Don't compare me to-" Jaheira began to retort but immediately stopped when Ralis fired the arrow.

The arrow missed, only grazing the left side of the hill giant's bald head. The giant was a bit slow to react, it went "Huh?" as it slowly turned to face Ralis, and at that moment, Ralis had fired another arrow, and this arrow pierced between the hill giant's eyes, causing him to collapse dead and startle his three brethren.

" _What that?!_ " One of the hill giants exclaimed.

" _There! Human!_ " One of the hill giants spotted Ralis, pointing at him as he approached them, pulling another arrow out his quiver.

One of the hill giants shouted a war cry while the other two charged forward towards Ralis. Corwin and the others revealed themselves at the same moment when nineteen other hill giants entered the clearing. The hill giants harassing the young dragon called for backup!

"Oh this is just great," Ralis huffed.

" _Kill them all! We eat plenty fresh meat tonight!_ " the hill giant who called for reinforcements exclaimed.

Corwin fired an arrow at one of the giants, her arrow piercing through his nose and killing him.

Ralis rushed to the young dragon's defense against the other three hill giants while his party fought the remaining fourteen.

"There's too many of them!" Jaheira exclaimed.

"Finally! Big butts in need of a good swift kick!" Minsc exclaimed then dodged the swing of a hill giant's club and slashed his sword at the giant's right leg, causing him to howl in pain.

"What is it with you and kicking rears?" Corwin asked Minsc before firing another arrow at an incoming hill giant, missing the target's head.

Safana fired her own arrow at the hill giant Corwin was trying to shoot down, and the arrow only lodged itself in the hill giant's left bicep.

" _Ouch! Me hurt you bad, now!_ " The giant growled in his native giant language like all of his brethren.

The young dragon bit into the hill giant leader's ankle, sinking her teeth deep into the skin and he yelled in pain. Just when he raised his club high in the air to bring down on the young dragon trying to tear some flesh off from his feet, Ralis carefully aimed his Dead Shot longbow, intending to shoot an arrow at the giant's right hand wrist, and he fired the arrow when the giant brought his club down, and the arrow lodged itself in the giant's wrist, causing the hand holding his club to go numb and drop his club.

"We need to retreat! We can't fight them all!" Corwin exclaimed after seeing Minsc successfully kill one hill giant.

"What about Ralis? He's still over there defending that wyrmling!" Dynaheir exclaimed after shooting a few Magic Missiles at one of the hill giants.

"I'm sure he can take care of himself! Come on!" Corwin exclaimed.

"No! Minsc and Boo never leaves a comrade in the clutches of evil!" Minsc exclaimed.

"There will be another day for that, Minsc! But we can't help him if we all die!" Corwin reasoned with Minsc.

As the hill giants approached, Glint, along with Dynaheir, cast the Slow spell on the giants. Some managed to shake off the effects of the spell, some didn't, and are now moving at turtle speed.

Minsc reluctantly retreated back into the forest with his companions, leaving Ralis alone in the clearing with the young green dragon and nearly 20 hill giants.

"Looks like its time we retreat!" Ralis told the young dragon when he noticed all the hill giants who haven't been killed turn their attention toward him and the little dragon.

"I will not run, you fool! Do you have any idea what I am? I am a dragon!" She retorted incredulously.

"You'll be a dead dragon and I'll be a dead human if we continue trying to fight a battle we can't win! You know what? Stay and fight, if you want. I'm leaving this place," Ralis said and ran for the woods away from the hill giants.

The green dragon watched Ralis run ahead for a few seconds, then looked back at the approaching hill giants who haven't been affected by Glint and Dynaheir's Slow spell, then she finally decided that it probably is best to run away after all. She followed Ralis running on all fours for a few seconds, then tried to lift off the air with her wings, gradually gaining altitude, rising above the ground five feet high before passing by Ralis. One of the hill giants armed with a javelin took careful aim at the flying young dragon and threw his javelin. The javelin whooshed across the air, over Ralis's head and damaged the young dragon's left wing. The young dragon cried out in pain and crashed to the ground. Before Ralis caught up to stop and check her wing, the young dragon immediately resumed running on foot without saying a word to her human savior, and Ralis followed the dragon into the woods even though part of him wondered why he is following a green dragon to who knows where.

* * *

The young dragon and Ralis ran through the woods for the next three minutes, trying to put some distance between them and the hill giants. Three minutes later, they paused to catch their breath.

"*pant...pant*... I think we lost them, finally. Don't you?" Ralis asked the young dragon.

She snorted in derision, turning her back on Ralis. "You disappoint me, human. We could have taken those lesser creatures no matter how many there were. Have your senses taken leave of you? No dragon ever runs away from a fight!"

"You may be a dragon, but that fact alone does not make you immortal! Don't let your arrogance get yourself killed!" Ralis shot back.

The young dragon turned around and looked straight into Ralis' face with her feline-like eyes. "When I grow older, you will see just how powerful I can be, and you will be begging for mercy when I punish you."

Ralis sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What's your name?"

"I have no intention of telling you my name. Besides, I doubt your human tongue is able to pronounce my name properly without getting it wrong."

"What about your wing? I thought I saw a javelin hit you when you flew past me. What happened to your wing?" Ralis asked.

The green dragon tried to unfold her left wing, but opening it caused a quick, blinding fury of pain to attack her nerves. She squealed in pain and folded her wings back into place behind her back.

"You're injured, aren't you?" Ralis asked.

"It is none of your business," the dragon growled.

"Let me take a look at it, I insist," Ralis said, cautiously approaching the young green dragon.

The dragon snarled at Ralis and took a few steps back, her body arched slightly like an angry, hissing cat would do.

"Mind your distance, human, or I will devour you," she threatened.

Ralis wasn't scared of the threat, he simply shook his head.

"Look, I'm no cleric, but I do know one basic healing spell. It is a special ability of mine. Let me touch your wing, and you'll see what happens," Ralis said.

The young dragon considered his offer for a few seconds, then nodded to show that he has her permission now. Ralis cautiously stepped forward, reaching out with both hands and gently touched the young dragon's folded left wing, which appeared broken, the soft parts of the wings below the bones seem to be in tatters, Instead of opening the folded wing, Ralis placed both hands on it, closed his eyes and focused on healing the dragon. And to the young dragon's surprise, she felt the changes taking effect. The numb pain she felt is slowly subsiding, and when Ralis stepped back a few inches, she opened her left wing, and it opened fully, revealing every part of it completely healed. The dragon gasped in disbelief at first, but then she started laughing for a few seconds.

"So you are not worthless after all, human! I must admit, I am impressed!"

"I was expecting a "thank you" from you, but I'll take what you said as the "thank you" I was expecting," Ralis said.

"I can do better than say "thank you". I'll give you some kind of reward," the dragon said.

Ralis had half a mind to put his hand on his two-sided dagger just in case. "What reward?" He asked.

"I'll show you. Follow me," the dragon said and walked northwest.

Ralis had doubts and worries about following this young dragon. What if she is leading him to her parents? If she is, then he is walking to a trap. But it is better to stick by this dragon than walk alone in these woods when he is who knows how far away from his companions, so he decided to follow.

"Do you know where you are going?" Ralis asked the dragon as he followed her through the thick cluster of trees all around them. He could barely see her because her green scales are nearly dark, and not much moonlight shone through the branches and leaves of the trees around them.

"You would do well not to question a dragon who knows her way around these woods, human. Yes, I do know where I am going," she replied with mild irritation in her voice.

"So what is it that you have to show me?" Ralis asked as he stepped over a tree stump.

"My own personal treasure hoard that I've kept secret from my parents for some time," she replied.

"Really?" Ralis asked in curiosity.

"... Well, not really, but I intended on claiming it as my own, though. Days ago, I spied a dwarf concealing something in the rocks piled to the northwest. Something shiny. I intend to retrieve it for myself, but those hill giants ambushed me and chased me into that clearing, and since you did aid me in my time of need..."

"Are you saying that you are going to let me have what that dwarf hid?" Ralis asked in disbelief.

From what little he knew about green dragons, they are not the sharing type, they are experts in deception and manipulation, on par with drow. The dragon stopped in front of a pile of over a hundred small stones near a tree with the bark scratched off by some animal.

"Yes. It is yours, take it. But do so quickly, lest I change my mind," the dragon said to Ralis.

Ralis approached the rock pile, crouched down on his knees and started digging through the small stones. It took him less than a minute to find what is buried underneath. He had found a perfectly round, shiny red stone. Picking it up out among the dark silver stones and holding it up in front of his face for a few seconds, Ralis assumed that this might be an ioun stone or maybe some kind of jewel he has never seen before. He put it in his pocket quickly so that the young dragon won't get too curious.

"And now we shall go our separate ways. Good luck surviving on your own out here, human. You'll need it," the dragon said then snickered while walking away.

"Wait a minute," Ralis called.

The dragon stopped walking away and turned her head to the left to look back at him.

"What do you want now?" She asked.

Ralis tried hard to think of something that will convince the young dragon that it is in her best interest to keep him around, not just for his benefit, but also for her own.

"Uh... I get the feeling you live out here on your own. Where are your parents? Are they dead?" He asked.

"Are you trying to make me cry, human?" The young green dragon asked as she turned her entire body to face Ralis. "Of course I am alone. My parents were killed by the very same hill giants that attacked me. Humans and hill giants always come to these parts of the forest, hunting my kind. Normally we green dragons never make a nest in these parts of this forest so close to your city called Soubar, because of the risk of being hunted and killed by dragon hunters. But there are a few of us in these parts, and I know how to survive out here without relying on my kin."

Ralis crossed his arms, smirking. "Uh-huh. A few minutes ago, your luck in survival almost ran out with those hill giants back there. Instead of leaving me, you should take me with you for a while. Together, our chances of survival will be better. If we split up, we both will die one way or another. We need each other," Ralis said.

He noticed the young dragon frown while thinking it over for a few seconds.

"Hmm... You make a good point, human. You really are far too useful for me to discard just yet. Very well. I will suffer your company for a while longer. I'll let you sleep in my cavern as well. Just for tonight, though. Tomorrow, you must leave. Follow me."

While Ralis was relieved that the young dragon has decided to keep him around, he is uneasy about the thought of sharing a cavern with a dragon, any number of possibilities might happen. Either way, he followed the young green dragon north now.

* * *

Meanwhile, less than two miles east from Ralis' current location, Corwin and others have also escaped the hill giants and are now resting in a part of the forest with a very small clearing, but big enough for a campsite to be made. Everyone settled down, except for Voghiln, he is busy trying to flirt with Safana.

"Keep your hands to yourself, you bloody great oaf!" Safana pushed him away.

"Ho ho ho! She plays hard to get!" Voghiln heartily exclaimed to Corwin and the others, then turned his attention back to Safana. "I know the woman's _lipschin!_ Your mouth says no, but your eyes say... _"_ He let his voice trail off with his enthusiasm when he looked into Safana's glaring eyes. "...maybe," he concluded.

"What does a swift kick 'twixt the legs say?" Safana asked him.

Voghiln stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Eh... It says... maybe later?" He asked with a clueless shrug.

Safana's eyes widened in shock. This man's hormones are so hyperactive that he can't take a hint from a woman that is not interested in him. Coran, unlike Voghiln, knows when to call it quits. "Gods! You are worse than Coran."

"Who?"

Safana chose not to explain to Voghiln who Coran is, letting the conversation end there.

"This is terrible, Boo. We should never have left him!" Minsc moaned sadly, sitting on a large boulder with a nearly flat surface.

"Cease thy tears, Minsc. There is still hope that he could be alive," Dynaheir said.

"If he stayed with the dragon, I doubt that he still lives," M'khiin said, holding a fat beetle in her right hand for a few seconds then tossing it into her mouth, chewing it loudly.

Hearing the crunching noises of the beetle's exoskeleton being crushed between M'khiin's teeth made Safana, Voghiln and Rasaad cringe in disgust.

"Thou art being too pessimistic, M'khiin. Do thou not know how to be more optimistic?" Dynaheir berated the goblin.

M'khiin stopped chewing the beetle and slowly looked up at Dynaheir.

"I am not being pessimistic. I am only being realistic," she said evenly then continued chewing for a few more seconds then swallowed.

Rasaad knew that encouraging someone who isn't used to thinking positive won't get them anywhere, so he decided to step in the conversation.

"Friends, let's focus on the possibility that Ralis is alive. If he were alive, where would he go? What would he do?" Rasaad spoke up.

Everyone fell into silence except the crickets chirping nearby. Corwin rubbed her chin in thought for a few seconds, then snapped her fingers when an idea popped into her head.

"If Ralis were alive, he would be heading for a cavern of some kind, probably in hopes of reuniting with us," Corwin said.

Jaheira shook her head in disbelief while resting her back against a tree. "I have doubts about your theory, Captain Corwin. What if he doesn't know where this cavern we are searching for is? What if we find it before he does? What if he finds it before we do? What if we never find it or each other?" She asked.

"Too many ifs, Jaheira. Far too many," Glint shook his head.

"Ho ho! At times like this, we need an inspirational story to soothe our stressed hearts, _ja_?" Voghiln chimed in, pulling his lute off from his back to hold it in both hands.

Minsc frowned at the skald in confusion. "A song? Now?" He asked.

"Not a song, my tall friend! A story! An inspirational story that that will ignite your goodly heart with fire and charge bravely forward through the most dangerous places the realms have to offer!" Voghiln corrected Minsc.

Minsc started bouncing up and down on the boulder like an excited child.

"Ooh! Ooh! A tale that rouses the goodness in everyone! Boo! Do you want to hear Voghiln's tale?" Boo squeaked back at Minsc in agreement. "Excellent! Begin your tale, Voghiln!" Minsc exclaimed.

Voghiln couldn't help smiling at Minsc as he nodded. Then he lowered his head down at the lute in his hands, and ran his fingers through the strings, creating a soothing melodic sound.

"Voghiln, we don't have time for..." Jaheira began to say, but she noticed Corwin shaking her head at her, then Jaheira decided to do what Corwin says and let Voghiln tell his story.

Voghiln plucked the strings several more times, creating more beautiful musical notes. "This story I will tell you is about seven heroes who saved the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale from going to war against the barbarian tribes of Icewind Dale over 80 years ago," Voghiln declared, speaking more than singing.

He heard Minsc gasp softly in awe.

"They say that the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale was founded two centuries ago upon the ancestral lands of the Icewind Dale barbarians, and the barbarians, who were outraged at outsiders settling in on their lands done everything they could to ignite a war in which they will fight back and regain what they lost. They never came close to a full scale war against the Ten Towns until a barbarian king who had arisen from the dead return to lead his people through harsh trials and tribulations," Voghiln explained while playing his lute.

He paused for a few seconds while still playing his lute and noticed that his companions were intently listening to his story. Jaheira is the only one who is glaring at him, wondering what is the point in the story he is getting at.

"Just when it seemed like war between the barbarians and the Ten Towns seemed inevitable, seven adventurers were sent to the barbarian camp to negotiate peace with the barbarian king. One of those heroes is an elf whose skill in archery matches those of Captain Corwin's!" Voghiln declared.

"Really?" Corwin raised an eyebrow in amusement.

" _Ja!_ " Voghiln winked at her while still thrumming the strings of his lute. "The other was a beautiful half-elven woman whose bardic spells were as lethal as the mace she carried! The third hero was a mage, the fourth was a valiant dwarven defender of Berronar Truesilver, the fifth was a barbarian who is not native to Icewind Dale, the sixth is a half-orc who was adopted by barbarians, and the last hero was a halfling lass with special powers. Together, through many challenges, they discovered the true nature of the barbarian king and managed to avert a war between them and the Ten Towns 80 years ago! So you see my friends, no matter how impossible or impassible a situation might be, always keep your head up and keep moving forward!"

Minsc began applauding. "Bravo, Voghiln, bravo! A truly inspirational tale! It was so inspirational it makes me cry tears of joy!" Minsc declared.

"Is this story true, Voghiln?" Rasaad asked.

"Ja, true enough not to be considered a myth. Not yet, at least," Voghiln nodded at the monk.

"We should get some rest, and then search for Ralis and this cave tomorrow," Corwin suggested.

They made camp and fell asleep in their bedrolls, with Minsc awake for the first three hours to stand guard around the campsite.

* * *

Meanwhile little more than one mile northwest from where Corwin and the others camped, Ralis, with his temporary young green dragon companion, has been led to her cave. Ralis hoped that it is the cave he and his party were looking for, but the cave entrance is a bit smaller than he suspected, the entrance is big enough for a bear to walk into, but for a human nearly five feet and ten inches tall, will have to crouch down to walk inside.

"This is your home?" Ralis asked in mild disbelief.

"Yes, this is it," the young green dragon replied.

Ralis stepped close to the entrance, crouched down and peered inside. There is no light, the inside is pitch black, so he can't see anything. Because of this, he began to have doubts sleeping in a dark cave with a young dragon.

"What's in there?" Ralis glanced back at the young dragon behind him.

"Nothing of interest to you, at least. What's the matter, human? You don't trust me?"

"That's right. I have doubts about sleeping in a cave with a dragon that could decide to have me for breakfast the next morning before I wake up," Ralis stated.

The young green dragon scoffed. "That's a tempting idea, but fortunately for you, I am not fond of human flesh. I tried it before, a few days ago, and I couldn't get used to the taste, it's a bit bland. If you were an elf, however, that would be a different story. Elf meat tastes _much_ sweeter to me," she said with an unsettling grin, showing her serrated teeth.

"Oh, that makes me feel _so_ much better," Ralis said sarcastically.

The dragon stopped grinning now. "Just shut up and get in the cave," she ordered.

Doing as she said, Ralis crouched down on his knees and walked into the cave with his legs partially bent, and the dragon followed. As he entered the pitch blackness, Ralis wondered how far back does this cave go, and how does he know where he is going, and how low is the ceiling compared to his head so he won't have to...

"Gah! Ow!" Ralis cried out when his head bumped the ceiling.

Now with a throbbing headache, he sat down and rested his back along the left side of the cave's walls, about 8 feet away from the cave's entrance. Since he still wore his ankheg armor, he could hear the chitinous skin of his armor scrape against the stone wall, and feel the cool stone wall against the back of his head, As for the scent of the air inside the cavern, it smelled a bit rotten with the body odor of a green dragon, almost as intolerable as the scent of M'khiin's soiled leathers, but he had to endure the smell to get some sleep. He could see the shadowed silhouette of the dragon approaching him from the light outside.

"Hit your head, I see?" She asked in a taunting tone, then chuckled.

"Not funny," Ralis groaned, touching his throbbing forehead to make sure he isn't bleeding. Fortunately, he wasn't bleeding at all.

He heard the young dragon's footsteps move past him through the darkness, then he heard shuffling noises to his left and realized that the dragon is sitting down close to him.

"Hey, perhaps you can help me, since I helped you," Ralis said as soon as an idea came to his mind.

He heard the young dragon snort in the darkness.

"Normally I don't do favors for anyone, but you helped me, so I will help you... to a certain extent. What do you want?" She asked.

"My companions and I are looking for a cave belonging to a young adult green dragon somewhere around here that isn't far from Bridgefort. You know these forests. Do you know any caverns that match what I described?"

Then suddenly, he heard the young dragon gasp in shock.

"You're searching for _Morentherene's_ lair...! Human, I don't know if you are brave or stupid, but I advise you to stay away from your intended destination. Not that I care about the life of a human, anyway..."

"Why? What is it about this Morentherene that has got you so spooked?" Ralis asked.

"I heard many unsettling rumors about the cave she resides in. Two days ago, I've seen these humans in strange robes led by a woman who I think is half human and half green dragon taking several dwarves bound by rope to her cavern, and they never returned. I don't know what happened to them, but I do know that every bold young dragon who tried to take residence in her cave never came back out. I lost my siblings that way, they poked their noses in a place that shouldn't be poked."

"A woman that is half dragon? How is that possible?" Ralis asked.

The young dragon groaned in disgust before speaking. "It makes me want to retch to say this, but since some dragons have the ability to disguise themselves as humans, there are some dragons, both chromatic and metallic, that have not only interacted with humans and elves by living among them, but some have also... _mated_ with them. I don't understand why some of my kind would dare crossbreed with such a pitiful lesser species!" She exclaimed in disgust.

Ralis didn't know that dragons can produce offspring with humans, elves or any other race besides their own, he never heard anything like that from his studies in Candlekeep. It seems anything is possible.

"Pitiful, huh? Did you know that some of the most famous empires in the realms that existed in the past belonged to humans? You may see us as weak, but we can adapt to anything, and elves, dwarves, halflings and every other race knows this," Ralis countered.

"But you reproduce so quickly like rabbits! Humans and elves are prey and slave species to dragons, nothing more!" The young dragon said in disgust.

"Who knows? Maybe some dragons see something in humans and elves that you can't yet," Ralis guessed.

The young dragon only pouted in disgust at the thought, but she didn't say a word, a sign that she wants to drop the subject, and personally, Ralis wanted to drop it too, he found the idea of dragons, even those disguised as humans crossbreeding with actual humans a disturbing thought. Thinking back to the cultists possibly working alongside a green dragon to hide their operations, he couldn't believe it, this is the best lead he has come across.

"Think hard, dragon. Did the dwarves have anything on their uniforms or body armor that looks like a sun cresting the horizon?" Ralis asked.

The young dragon didn't answer immediately, she paused for a few seconds, thinking long and hard.

"... I'm not sure, I think so. I never pay much attention to the details of a "civilized" race's clothing or armor," she admitted.

Ralis sighed in mild depression. "All right then... Well, despite what you heard and seen, I need to get to Morentherene's cave, and since you know your way around these forests, I need your help finding it."

"Are you crazy?! If Morentherene catches us anywhere near her cave, she'll kill and devour us both! That or the cultists that reside there will have our heads!" The young dragon exclaimed.

"Then we should leave for her cave at dawn while she is still asleep. Just take me to her cave then leave me as quick as you can. I can take care of myself," Ralis assured her.

The young dragon sighed. "All right. I'll take you to her cave at dawn, but I won't follow you in, I will leave you as soon as I take you there... I get the feeling you don't value your life much, human. Tell me, do you have a death wish, or something? I get the feeling you want to see what the inside of a dragon's belly looks like."

"Honestly, I don't. I just want to find the dwarves those cultists kidnapped, that's all. It's very important that I do this," Ralis responded.

The young green dragon sighed. "All right, fine. It's your funeral. Remember, we leave at the break of dawn," she reminded Ralis.

He nodded then slowly fell asleep with his head lowered, his chin touching his chest, his body resting against the cave wall in the darkness, and the young green dragon fell asleep too.

* * *

Ralis woke up on his own without the help of his temporary dragon "friend". As he stood up, being careful not to hit his head against the ceiling, he didn't hear his scabbard scraping the ground as he stood up.

"Huh?" Ralis checked around his waist.

His swords are gone! Where could they be?! Who could have taken them?!

Ralis snarled, realizing that there is one person... or creature that has taken his swords. He rushed outside into the predawn light. Looking around he searched for the young green dragon. To his left, on a small hill, he saw the young dragon herself holding Kondar and Albruin in their scabbards in her front talons.

"You took my swords!" Ralis growled.

"Yes, I did! If you want them back, you'll have to catch me first!" She taunted, then disappeared down the other side of the hill.

"Hey! Get back here you scaly brat!" Ralis yelled as he gave chase.

He ran up the hill, and when he got to the top, he saw the young dragon flying five feet above the sloping ground down the hill towards flat ground below. Without hesitation, he ran down the hill after the young dragon, being careful not to trip over rocks concealed under the cluster of dead leaves that fell in the autumn. By the time he reached the bottom of the hill, the young dragon is already 26 yards ahead of him, running on foot this time on her hind legs, zigzagging through the trees ahead. Ralis followed her into the forest maze, trying his best to keep up with her.

"Come on, human! For having two long legs, you are terribly slow!" The young green dragon taunted up ahead.

Ralis snarled like an angry wild dog when he heard her say that, navigating past tree after tree, trying to keep the young dragon in his sights as he gave chase.

" _When I catch you, I'll kill you!_ " Ralis snarled.

"I'd like to see that happen if you can keep up with me!" The young dragon said cheerily.

And before he knew it, he tripped over a root and fell down on his face.

"What's the matter, human? I thought you were enjoying this _trip_ _!"_ the dragon stopped running to look back at Ralis and joke.

Ralis sprang back up to his feet, mud covered some of his scowling face. He wiped the mud off and he continued the chase. After two minutes of chasing the young dragon through the forest maze, they made their way to a small river, about 10 feet in width, a somewhat easy jump for anyone sprinting fast enough. Two moose with large antlers were drinking at the river, but when they saw the young green dragon coming, they ran away in different directions. The young dragon, with the assistance of her wings flew over the river, and when she reached the other side, she paused and waited for Ralis to show up. Two seconds after she flew over the river, she saw him emerge from the woods, running at her with an irritated, dirty, angry face. He didn't stop to analyze how far he needed to jump over the river, he just ran straight for it without hesitation, and when he reached the edge, he jumped, landing inches near the edge, and the young green dragon did not run away. Instead, she breathed a cloud of chlorine gas at him. Ralis saw the green cloud coming at him and tilted his body too far back to avoid it, causing him to fall into the river, avoiding the chlorine gas cloud at the price of getting wet.

The chase continued on. The young green dragon led Ralis to a clearing with tall grass that reaches up to his knees.

"Come on, human! You're almost there!" She taunted.

Ralis had this feeling she is leading him into a trap- anything could be lurking in the tall grass, but he had no choice but to run through the clearing after the sword thief. Fortunately, as he chased the flying dragon holding his swords through the clearing, nothing attacked him... until he reached the center of the clearing. Out the corner of his right eye, he saw a creature that looks like a panther jump out at him from the grass with two- no, six claws outstretched! Ralis jumped into a roll and prang back up on his feet to dodge the creature and continue chasing the young dragon, and he looked back at the panther-like creature and saw the two long tentacles beginning at its shoulders and ending with sharp needles on its back, and realized that creature is no panther, it is a displacer beast!

They are cat-like creatures that mostly resemble panthers with six legs up front, two tentacles on their back, being nine feet long, and have 500 pounds of muscle. They have an innate magical ability to bend light, making them appear to be one or two feet away from where they are actually standing. Ralis, knowing that without his swords, he has no chance against defending himself against this displacer beast, so he focused on his running speed, trying to catch up with the young dragon escaping with his swords. Since the displacer beast is slightly faster than Ralis, he had to zigzag to avoid getting mauled. Eventually he made it out of the clearing and back into the woods after the young dragon did, with the displacer beast close behind him.

"What is wrong with you?!" Ralis shouted at the young dragon flying six feet above ground ahead of him. "Don't you see you got this displacer beast chasing after me?!"

"If you want to get rid of it, try to keep up with me!" The young dragon said playfully.

Ralis shook his head in irritation and continued weaving past the trees so that the displacer beast would have a hard time catching him. At this moment, Ralis is seriously fatigued. They ran up another hill, this one a few feet shorter than the previous, and when Ralis got to the top to see the young dragon flying through the air back down towards lat ground, he looked down and saw that this hill's slope is much more steeper. So steep that he would lose his footing and roll down. He suddenly remembered the displacer beast behind him when he heard it growl, and he dived down the slope just when the displacer beast jumped at him, missing his body by inches, sailing over him. Ralis's body rolled down the hill sideways while the displacer beast landed on its head, breaking its neck and lifelessly rolled down the steep hill to the end. When Ralis reached the end of the steep hill, he is dirty and tired, but not injured, and he rose up on his feet and continued the chase, glad to see that the displacer beast is dead.

Ralis lost track of the young green dragon now. He didn't see which direction she flew in, so on a wild, random hunch, he continued going north for a few seconds. A minute later, he broke out of the cluster of trees to find a cavern up ahead, but no young dragon. Just when he least expected it, he saw the young green dragon emerge from the cave ahead, and she no longer had his swords in her possession.

"Hey! What the hell did you do to my swords?" Ralis demanded.

"Oh, those heavy things? I left them in that cave. If you want them, you have to go get them. Good luck, human! Ha ha ha ha!" The dragon flew off.

"I hope you rot in the Nine Hells because you deserve it!" Ralis shouted.

He is so filled with rage right now, he felt a strong urge to punch something or someone. But the young green dragon is gone now, so he has no choice but to venture into that cave and retrieve his two bastard swords, Kondar and Albruin. He cautiously approached the entrance, small step by step. It is much larger than the young dragon's cave, the entrance is big enough for a seven foot creature to enter. Ralis cautiously walked into the darkness of the cavern. With no source of light, he had to touch the walls with his bare hands to get a feel of which direction he is going so that he won't bump into a wall. After carefully navigating his way through the short tunnel, Ralis found himself in a part of a cavern illuminated by bright blue stone walls.

It is a beautiful sight at first, but he noticed something thin and white caked on the walls all around him. Spider webs! Ralis' instincts began to doubt that the young green dragon actually entered this cave and left his swords here. But without his swords, he is mostly defenseless, he needs them back, wherever they are. Ralis found the courage to press on further into the cave, and that is what he did, regardless of the immense amount of spider webs all over the walls and ceiling. What's more, he saw a few spider eggs camouflaged along the walls. Some of them quivered as the infant spiders inside struggled for freedom. Again, Ralis' had a gut feeling that the young dragon has deceived him. Up ahead, near three entrances to three different rooms of the cave, Ralis saw two more unhatched spider eggs.

"What the..." Ralis whispered.

Why are these eggs unhatched if this cave is abandoned? Pushing aside questions and doubts, Ralis moved forward towards the entrance to the central room, which is big enough to hold over 40 people in this single room. As soon as he passed through, a giant spider to his left squealed at him, startling him so badly that he backed away from it and into a thick cluster of spider webs that held onto him!

"No... No...!" Ralis gasped when he tried to pull his arms loose from the webs, to no avail.

The giant spider that startled him screeched loudly, alerting its brethren that fresh meat has arrived in their den. Ralis felt his heart sinking deeper into his chest. He struggled harder against the webs, but it did no good. He couldn't even reach the two-sided dagger attached to his belt, the only weapon that the young green dragon did not steal. Ralis heard more screeches and he looked up to see seven more giant spiders descending down the webs towards him.

"Tymora, I need all the good luck you can offer to me, because I need it...!" Ralis whispered, a few beads of sweat fell from his forehead.


	9. Chapter 9 Mind Over Matter part 3

Ralis felt like a fly, helplessly trapped in the spider webs. He constantly struggled to get his arms loose, he even tried to lean his head forward to break it lose from the webs, but to no avail, the webs, nearly as strong as ropes, stuck on his hair pulled his hair strings, making it very difficult and painful to tear his head loose from the wire thin white strings. He looked around the room, seeing spiders of different sizes coming at him from the ground and ceiling. Amidst his terror-stricken mind, he took note that there are nine spiders coming towards him, five crawling towards him along the floor, and four crawling along the walls towards him. They slowly approached, they weren't very eager to attack him. Just when he began to wonder why the spiders are a bit hesitant to attack him, he got his answer when he looked up. An even bigger spider, one that is three times bigger than the other normal sized giant spiders and missing a leg descended down from the ceiling by web, landing on the ground. The spiders on the ground parted to give who seems to be their leader or parent some space to land. Then once the spider's seven legs touched the ground, it slowly approached Ralis while its cohorts stood back and watched. New jolts of fear surged through Ralis's nerves and he tried once more to tear his arms and legs loose from the webs holding him against the wall. It's no use, that young green dragon led him into this trap, and she succeeded.

" _Hold still,_ " the giant seven legged spider said.

Ralis felt a cold shiver run up and down his body hearing the creature's voice, it sounded like someone's fingernails scratching a chalkboard, and among his fear, he was confused and surprised because spiders that are capable of speaking is entirely unheard of in the Realms, but he never heeded the spider's advice, he continued struggling in the webs.

" _Hold still, human, and let Kriiya drain you. Let Kriiya drain you dry,_ " the seven legged spider said as it advanced closer and closer to Ralis.

The spider now stood inches in front of him, preparing to bring its sharp fangs close to Ralis's head. For the first time, he began to believe that his life will come to an end. He closed his eyes and turned away, unwilling to see the cause of his eventual death coming in mere seconds. Just when he felt and heard the spider's breathing close to his face, he heard the sound of an arrow fired from a bow, and a split second after, the sound of an arrow piercing skin and flesh. And at that moment, the spider backed away from Ralis, shrieking in pain, which confused the spiders around it. Ralis opened his eyes and and saw an arrow stuck to the left side of the giant spider's abdomen, and the spider is backing further and further away from Ralis, shrieking in pain, and all the spiders were looking at their master, wondering what is wrong with it.

Then at that moment, a tall woman with short cut blonde hair, high cheekbones, blue eyes and pointy ears signifying that she is an elf, wearing green and brown colored studded leather armor meant to camouflage with the environment outside appeared in the chamber with a longbow in her right hand and dagger in her left hand, and used her dagger to cut Ralis loose from the webs.

"Who... who are you?" Ralis asked the elf, wondering if she is an illusion projected by his terror-stricken mind.

"My name is Coogan, I'm here to help you. Consider yourself fortunate that I happened to be nearby, I saw you enter this cave and knew that you would be in danger. You should know better than to walk into these caves in these parts, friend. Most of them are spider nests," the ranger replied while she cut the webs around Ralis's arms and legs.

"My name is Ralis, and I didn't willingly come in here, I was lured in," Ralis clarified.

By the time he said that, the giant spiders and their wounded seven legged leader took notice of Coogan trying to break Ralis free.

" _An elf! You will not escape! Kriiya will drain you dry too!_ " the giant seven legged spider exclaimed, one of Coogan's arrows still stuck into its abdomen.

"Well, whatever the case may be, you need to pick up your weapon and fight if you want to live, because I certainly do!" Coogan exclaimed to Ralis before turning around and firing an arrow at one of the approaching spiders.

Ralis managed to completely tear himself loose from the remaining webs that held him against the wall. He met some resistance with the webs stuck in his hair, but fortunately the webs broke off before they could pull the hair out of his scalp, and now several strings of webs are stuck in his hair, but he wasn't aware of that. While Coogan was firing arrows at the approaching spiders, Ralis searched for a weapon to use. He noticed there are dried skeletal remains of humans who met their demise here, but he didn't see a weapon he could use at first until he saw one skeletal remain near the far northwestern corner of the room with a sword sheathed in its scabbard on the right side of his cobweb covered rusty splintmail body armor. Ralis ran over to the dead man's body and pulled the sword out, and examined it. As luck and fortune would have it, it is a bastard sword, a magically enhanced hand and a half sword at that, but it is not Kondar or Albruin, it is a different sword, and something feels odd about it. With the sword in hand, Ralis felt oddly energized, as if the sword transferred some of its energy to him.

A spider attacked him a split second later after Ralis examined the sword he obtained, but fortunately he dodged the leaping spider and counterattacked by stabbing the blade deep into the spider's body. After it died, he rushed back to Coogan and aided her by attacking spiders that got too close to them. The master spider, the bigger one with seven legs never rushed in to attack, it just stood where it always stood, watching its children attack and be killed by Ralis and Coogan. They worked together as a team, keeping the spiders at bay with their weapons and teamwork, but they knew that unless they find a way to escape, their luck won't hold forever.

"We can't keep this up forever! I'm running out of arrows!" Coogan exclaimed after firing her 6th arrow at a phase spider that tried to phase out but got shot between the eyes before it phased out from a far corner of the room and phased back in already dead behind Ralis.

"I'll loan you some of mine!" Ralis said after slashing another spider that tried to attack him.

He reached back with his left hand to pull some arrows out of his quiver attached to his back, and when his fingers touched the rim of his quiver, he realized that his stock of arrows have been taken too!

"I'm out! Dammit! Damn that little green wyrm!" Ralis cursed.

"I don't like the sound of that," Coogan said, grabbing her last arrow.

"Yeah, we are in trouble. Look out!" Ralis exclaimed, then dodged a spider that jumped at him, and Coogan did the same, then Ralis stabbed the spider before it could do anything else.

After that spider was slain, Ralis and Coogan found themselves surrounded by spiders, they were backed towards the center of the large chamber where all the spiders began to close in on them, and the giant seven legged spider watched.

" _Now Kriiya has got an human and elf to drain dry. Do not resist,_ " it said.

"Got any bright ideas, Ralis?" Coogan asked him.

Ralis shook his head in denial. "None that springs into mind," he replied.

He could have used his Bhaalspawn ability to use the Horror spell on spiders, but Ralis doubted it would work, he is unsure if spiders even know fear. Just when all seemed lost, when it seemed that Ralis and Coogan would become spider food, they heard a voice nearby say:

"Minsc, Boo and friends to the rescue!"

Right when Ralis and Coogan turned their heads to face the only way out the chamber, they saw Minsc charging head-on towards the spiders brandishing his two-handed sword with Jaheira, Voghiln, M'khiin and Glint following close behind him armed with their own weapons, including Rasaad with his fists burning with flames. Corwin and Safana showed up too, firing arrows at spiders crawling along the ceiling, Ralis wanted to know how they found him, but now is not the time for talk. Working together, Ralis, his party and Coogan fought spiders in the chamber for two minutes until no more spiders came after them.

* * *

When the battle ended, they were surrounded by dead spider corpses, and M'khiin walked over to the dead seven legged giant spider and tore off one of its legs and placed it in her rucksack, and tore off another leg to eat, the leg crunched loudly being chewed between M'khiin's teeth.

"Are you seriously eating that?" Safana observed in disgust.

"Giant spider legs are one of my favorite delicacies. Here. Try some," M'khiin offered.

"Uh... I'll pass," Safana grimaced, shook her head and turned away, apparently feeling queasy.

"Ralis, my friend! It is so good to see you alive and well! You are tough as a brick wall! Heheh!" Minsc exclaimed happily.

"You guys are a wonderful sight for sore eyes! How did you find me?" Ralis asked at the same moment Safana was speaking to M'khiin regarding the spider leg she was eating.

"We found your swords nearby behind one of the trees close to this cave. We figured you might be inside," Corwin explained, showing Ralis Kondar and Albruin in her hands.

"I thought I lost these forever," Ralis stated in relief, and decided to take Albruin as his second bastard sword instead of Kondar. "And you figured right, and I'm glad you did!" He added with a relieved grin as he sheathed Albruin and his new sword, Severance +2 into Kondar's former scabbard.

"You don't want this one anymore?" Corwin gestured to Kondar in her hands.

"Nah. Give it to Voghiln. Besides, that sword isn't really mine," Ralis replied.

"Suit yourself. Here you go," Corwin shrugged, then turned to Voghiln, giving him Kondar.

"Ho ho! I could use another weapon," he said, taking Kondar into his hand and sheathing it on the left side of his belt since his war ax is sheathed on the right.

"Friends of yours?" Coogan asked.

"Yes. I didn't travel to these forests alone. We're searching for a cave belonging to a green dragon. Do you know what I am talking about?" Ralis replied.

Coogan thought it over for six seconds before replying.

"As a matter of fact, I do. To tell you the truth, we are close to your destination. Very close," she said.

Meanwhile, M'khiin was looking at the dried corpses of spider victims trapped in webs along the walls like Ralis was. There were a few humans and one goblin. The goblin victim still retained most of his flesh on the left side of his face and arm, unlike the human victims, and that didn't surprise M'khiin at all, she kept a unsympathetic, emotionless face while examining the goblin corpse stuck on the wall. It didn't take long for Ralis, Coogan and the others to take notice of what caught M'khiin's attention.

"What's that?" Glint asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"It looks like a goblin," Rasaad observed, standing next to Voghiln who is gently stroking his beard while looking at the goblin corpse with mild curiosity.

"Spiders only half ate this goblin. Stringy meat, we are," M'khiin announced to her companions.

"I'll take your word for it. Is there anything on the body you can use?" Ralis asked.

M'khiin began to tear down the webs by hacking at the strings with her ax. The stone blade sometimes hit the goblin's body armor, denting it, but M'khiin wasn't interested in taking the goblin's armor, she preferred wearing her comfortable leathers, even though its odor makes her companions' noses wrinkle. When the webs tore loose, the dead goblin's body landed on the ground with a thud.

"There's always something you can use," M'khiin replied while searching the goblin's satchel for anything useful. "Just don't always want to do what you can use it for."

"Take what you can use and let's go. I don't even know what we're doing here," Corwin said.

The only thing the dead goblin had useful in his satchel is 16 poisonous throwing knives, and since M'khiin has no ranged weapons in her disposal, she took them and put them in her bag with the spider leg she hasn't eaten yet. Then almost immediately, everyone felt the floor vibrating, then they heard a soft rumbling noise, and some type of insects making indistinct chattering sounds from nearby chambers.

"I don't like the sound of this..." Ralis said warily.

Corwin looked fairly alarmed now. "Anyone else think its about time we got the hells out of here?" She asked.

"Yes. With all the spiders in this den dead, it's only a matter of time before their rivals, the giant beetles, begin to encroach," Coogan said.

Everyone immediately left the chamber, and when they reached the main chamber where the cavern's exit is only several yards ahead, they saw the path to the exit blocked by several giant beetles the size of adult dogs, and one giant rhino beetle, six times bigger than its beetle brethren! The rhino beetle is as big and long as a stage coach wagon, with a large horn that curves upwards towards the ceiling. Some of the smaller beetles were eating the eggs of spiders, and others were just standing idle around the rhino beetle.

"Oh _stlarn_..." Ralis cursed when he saw the rhino beetle.

"Now that is a beetle," Voghiln observed, pointing at the rhino beetle.

"Yes. It is called a rhino beetle. It is here to feast on the spider eggs here," Jaheira observed.

"We should leave this place without provoking it. An angry rhino beetle can be bad news," Coogan said.

"Bugs only care about eating. Grab some spider eggs. They'll draw the big one away from the hole," M'khiin said.

Ralis eyeballed M'khiin skeptically. "Are you sure about this?"

She looked up at him. "Do you have any better ideas?"

The only idea that has crossed Ralis' mind is using his Bhaalspawn ability to cast the Horror spell over the beetles. But he had doubts about this plan, though, because he felt unsure if beetles know fear, or have felt it before. But that theory will never be confirmed unless he tries the spell. So instead of replying to M'Khiin, he focused on inducing fear into the giant beetles. Just before M'Khiin could ask Ralis what he is doing, everyone heard a shrill, terrified screech from several of the giant beetles, but not from the rhino beetle. All the giant beetles devouring spider eggs immediately stopped devouring them and turned to flee out of the cave. Apparently the Horror spell failed to affect the rhino beetle, because it didn't run away at all, it just stood there, as if oblivious to its brethren running away. M'khiin was surprised and confused to see all the giant beetles run away, and so was Coogan, Voghiln and Corwin.

"What... what did you do?" Coogan asked.

"Did you just... use magic?" M'khiin questioned Ralis.

"No time to explain. Attack the rhino beetle now while it is alone!" Ralis exclaimed, charging forward with Albruin and Severance drawn out, Minsc, Glint, Jaheira and Voghiln close behind.

Though they didn't know it, the rhino beetle was aware of their presence, it was not interested in attacking them until they attacked it. It all happened so fast. The rhino beetle felt its armored head getting shot by Dynaheir's Magic Missiles and Safana and Corwin's arrows, and Ralis and the others who are melee attacking it split up, Ralis and Minsc on the beetle's left side, Glint, Jaheira and Voghiln on the on the beetle's right side, swords, axes and maces cutting and breaking into its hide. The beetle screeched in pain and rage being assaulted from all sides, it had no idea who to focus on attacking, these interlopers are many and relentless. In seconds, the beetle succumbed to its rapidly accumulating wounds and collapsed dead, its blood and entrails leaking out from the wounds inflicted by Glint, Minsc, Ralis and Voghiln.

"First spiders, then beetles. Best we leave this place before the ankhegs appear," Dynahair said, clearly recalling her previous encounter with ankhegs many months ago during the iron crisis.

"I don't know if this bug had a butt, but if it did, it's been thoroughly kicked!" Minsc exclaimed, then shook some of the beetle blood off his large blade.

And then, in a matter of seconds, the entire cave filled up with the stench of dead rhino beetle guts which smelled like vomit mixed with rotten eggs, causing everyone to gag in disgust.

"Oh gods!" Ralis gagged, dropping Albruin and pinching his nose.

"Ho ho! This bug tried to eat the lion of Luskan, but it didn't like the taste!" Voghlin exclaimed joyously in a nasal voice while pinching his nostrils closed.

"Dear Cloakshadow, I'm going to be smelling this place forEVER," Glint groaned while pinching his nostrils closed as well.

M'khiin, apparently unfazed by the stench approached the rhino beetle corpse.

"Beetle's good eats. Try some," she suggested to everyone.

"What?" Corwin looked at M'khiin in confused disgust.

"Ohh, hells no! Let's get out of here!" Ralis exclaimed in disgust, picking up Albruin, sheathing both of his swords and ran out the cave with everyone else close behind. M'khiin considered telling everyone that she was only joking, that she never eaten a giant beetle before, but she remained silent and let them believe that.

Everyone except M'khiin took a sharp breath of fresh air as soon as they emerged from the cavern.

"Bwaah! Fresh air finally!" Ralis gasped, taking in a few breath of air, looking up at the dawn sky, then laughed, happy that he has lived to see another day. Then he turned around to face Coogan and the others. "Do you guys have any idea how it feels to see your life flash before your eyes, to see death staring up close at you, and then suddenly, you are given the opportunity to live another day? I tell you, it is a wondrous feeling!" He grinned.

Jaheira shook her head, smiling. "Truth be told, I can only imagine," she said.

"Let's go. The sooner we get to Morentherene's lair, the more likely you'll be able to sneak in while she is still asleep," Coogan said, taking the lead, heading northeast, with everyone following close behind.

* * *

For the next six minutes, they walked through the forest towards their destination, going down a small narrow trail through a nearly dense forest, the dawn sky growing steadily brighter as the sun rose up from the east. Coogon walked ahead of everyone, leading them fearlessly, and Corwin, Jaheira and Ralis got the feeling that Coogan has likely seen plenty of battles to be so willing to help a group of adventurers find a dragon's lair.

"Hey, uh..." Ralis began, walking up alongside Coogan to her right, and she looked at him, waiting for an answer. "...I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life back there. Thank you."

"Think nothing of it. Any other ranger I know would have done the same, whether they are elf or not," Coogan replied. "But I advise you, all of you, to watch your step from here on out. These forests may appear peaceful, but there are many dangers here, tigers, dragons, displacer beasts, and spiders," she added.

"You seem to know these woods very well. Where are you from?" Jaheira asked Coogan inquisitively, walking next to her to her left.

"I am from the Misty Forest," Coogan replied.

"Where is that, exactly?" Ralis asked, moving away from Coogan to pass by a tree that divided him from Coogan and Jaheira for a second.

"It is west from High Moor, northwest from Dragonspear Castle. I've lived there since my childhood. I also fought in the second Dragonspear War," Coogan said.

"Really?" Ralis asked, obviously amused at the details of her past.

"It's true. When the elves of the Misty Forest learned about the Dragonspear Hordes attacking Daggerford, we decided to assist the Daggerford military in their fight, even though we could have easily ignored the threat. I served under Sylyndyrryl Moonspinner, the commander of our forces, I was in the longbowmen unit," Coogan explained.

At that moment, they came up to an off-road path going directly north several meters then turning east, and the followed the path.

"If you are from the Misty Forest, what are you doing this far southeast by yourself?" Corwin asked the elven ranger, walking behind her.

Coogan glanced back at Corwin before replying. "Because of Caelar's crusade, and the damage they are causing. Some of the people I fought with during the second Dragonspear War, human, elf and dwarf, have joined their ranks, soldiers who have seen their brothers, sisters and loved ones fight and die alongside them during the fight against Baazka's forces during the second Dragonspear War, and would gladly give their lives to prevent a third Dragonspear War. I don't know why Caelar and her crusaders have taken refuge in Dragonspear Castle or what they hope to accomplish, but if they believe that they are fighting for a greater good, I don't think they are. It's a gut feeling that I have. I was heading southeast to Soubar to find adventurers willing to help stop the crusade before they cause more harm. Sylyndyrryl sent me to find more adventurers to aid us in the fight against Caelar."

"You're in luck, because we work with the Flaming Fist militia of Baldur's Gate. We wouldn't be forced to take a detour through Boareskyr Bridge if the crusaders hadn't destroyed the Coast Way Crossing bridge," Corwin said.

Coogan's eyes widened momentarily in surprise. "The crusaders destroyed the Coast Way bridge? This is very unexpected. They must be really desperate to stop the Flaming Fist militia from getting involved," she said.

"As well they should be, because we have the handsome and daring hero of Baldur's Gate with us," Safana said proudly.

"The who?" Coogan frowned quizzically, apparently unaware of Ralis' reputation.

"I'm the hero of Baldur's Gate. I'll tell you why later," Ralis said.

20 meters later, they found a small clearing where up ahead a large cavern entrance is elevated 12 feet above ground level by a well-trod path leading up the hillside towards the cavern's entrance.

"That's Morentherene's cavern. Exercise caution going in there, she might still be asleep," Coogan said.

Nobody uttered a word as they approached the cavern ahead. The winds picked up with a bit more force when they reached flat ground. Then they climbed up the elevated rocky path that winds up towards the cavern entrance, and as they drew nearer to the entrance, Ralis, Glint and Voghiln felt their legs become numb with nervousness. They weren't afraid to enter the cave, no one was, it's just that this will be the first time coming face to face with a living, breathing dragon. Safana, Corwin, Coogan, M'Khiin, Rasaad, Minsc, Dynahair and Jaheira, however, were completely calm. Jaheira and Coogan noticed that on the path, there are many humanoid footprints in the dirt, signifying that a group of people or creatures with human shaped bodies occasionally come in and out of the cavern. How is that possible? Jaheira wanted to comment about the discovery, but she didn't want to risk waking the dragon up if she is still asleep in the cavern. When they reached the gaping mouth of the cavern entrance, they thought they could faintly hear the sound of snoring among the wind. Ralis turned to face his companions and put his right hand index finger in front of his puckered lips, silently telling them to stay quiet at all times, then he entered the cavern with Coogan and Jaheira by his side, the rest followed behind them.

Once inside the cave, away from the whistling wind blowing in their ears, they could clearly hear the dragon snoring loudly. It sounded like an amplified lion's growl resonating with another low rumble, and it made Ralis's heart flutter with nervousness, and the air smelled mildly rotten with the stench of a dragon's body odor. The group crept slowly forward through the large, nearly pitch black narrow tunnel until they found themselves in a large chamber lit by the morning sky shining through more than a dozen holes as wide as a medium sized circular shield. 43 feet to their left, Morentherene, the young adult green dragon herself, is still asleep, snoring loudly, resting on the cavern floor with the remains of her recent meals strewn around her, the broken and mangled skeletal remains, pieces of body armor and broken weapons of humans and elves, possibly dragon hunters. Ralis hoped that none of them are Keherrem's remains, but it is impossible to tell, and the others vaguely noticed that the dragon's snoring noise mixed with the sound of her small yet somewhat noticeable swollen belly rumbling and gurgling, which is apparently busy digesting 26 pounds of human and elven flesh, and possibly two or three humans and/or elves that have been swallowed whole, armor, flesh, bones and all, which explains why she is still asleep even though it is morning, she is sleeping off what she has eaten recently.

Some dragons, chromatic dragons to be specific, enjoy devouring their prey without chewing them into lumps of flesh and broken bones so that they can be alive in the dragon's stomach to experience the slow agonizing pain of being digested alive, one of the most terrible ways to die, and thinking of it made Ralis feel a bit queasy. Morentherene is obviously much older than the other green dragon he met, possibly close to mature adulthood. Green dragons are well known for the large waving fin that starts on top of their noses and runs the entire length of their body to their tails. Glint noticed that the bones of Morentherene's prey that she hadn't swallowed whole have all the flesh nearly picked clean, but the leftover rotting pieces of flesh attached to the bones attracted a family of flies. He hoped that they won't need to walk through that boneyard because the last thing he wants is flies buzzing around his ears, it would definitely annoy him. Ralis gulped some saliva in his mouth silently, hoping that there are no passages to the next part of the cavern anywhere near the sleeping dragon. Ralis felt someone tap his shoulder and he flinched. He looked back and saw Jaheira behind him pointing ahead. Following his gaze toward where her finger is pointed, he noticed that her finger is pointing straight ahead towards a passage 56 feet ahead of them. They don't need to get anywhere near sleeping Morentherene after all!

Feeling relieved, Ralis cautiously led his party across the cavern chamber towards the passageway that is too small for Morenthene to follow them into if she were awake. Everyone walked carefully and quietly, watching the sleeping green dragon one second then watching the ground to make sure they don't step on anything that would make some kind of noise. Rasaad had doubts that they would sneak by the dragon successfully, because whoever these secret cultists who reside in this cave with this dragon that Ralis mentioned from the wyrmling he temporarily stayed with, they must have placed some kind of trap that they might unknowingly trip that would wake up Morentherene. Besides, it is morning, the dragon should wake up at any minute if they are unlucky.

They are now sneaking by Morentherene directly in front of her approximately 50 feet away. So far, so good, the passageway to the parts of the cave the dragon won't be able to chase them into is now 31 feet away. It won't be long until they are safe. But, unfortunately, at this moment, everything took a bad turn. At this moment, Voghiln felt a bubble rising up from his stomach, something that usually happens after he drinks wine, and before the party reunited with Ralis, he drunk some wine this morning, and the results are beginning to take effect at the wrong time.

 _No! Not now!_ Voghiln thought fearfully, knowing that he won't be able to stop the incoming belch. He felt the bubble rise up to his throat, and then...

 _*BURRP!*_

The sound echoed all over the cavern for a few seconds then faded away! Ralis and his party froze in place, wondering where the noise came from. Ralis felt his heart sink deep into his chest when he turned to face Morentherene, and he turned around at the perfect moment to see her reptilian eyes open wide.

 _Oh no..._ Ralis groaned silently.

Morentherene quickly rose up on her legs standing 15 feet tall, fully awake and glaring at Ralis and his party while growling in a threatening manner. Everyone expected the dragon to demand why are they intruding in her lair, but she made no attempt to speak to them, all she spoke were the verbal components needed for a dragon to cast the spell that makes their scales hard as stone.

"Attack! Attack!" Corwin exclaimed, firing an arrow at the dragon and Safana followed suit.

Ralis and his entire party felt the Dragon Fear aura sweep over them, the magical aura that emanates from all dragons that can potentially paralyze their attackers or prey with fear. Most of his party managed to shake off the effects of Dragon Fear, but Ralis and Glint failed to resist it unfortunately, and almost immediately they felt their hearts pounding rapidly in their chests, their arms and leg muscles tensing up, and they had to fight the urge to run out the cave even though they are a fairly safe distance from the dragon, and all they could do is watch Voghiln, Minsc, Rasaad, Jaheira and Coogan charge bravely at the dragon with their melee weapons drawn, not long after Dynaheir cast the Bless spell upon them all. M'khiin stayed back with Corwin, Safana, Glint, Dynaheir and Ralis, calling upon the spirits of five goblin warriors who have been dead for a century and one venomous snake for their assistance in the battle. Ralis had no intention of getting up close to the dragon, he preferred to attack it from a safe distance like Dynaheir, Safana and Corwin, and Glint had the same feelings, the gnome loaded a sling bullet into his sling and launched the bullet at the dragon, missing its head by 8 inches. Ralis tried reaching for an arrow in his quiver, but he found it empty, remembering that the young green dragon had gotten rid of his arrows while he was asleep in her cave!

"Corwin! Give me some arrows, hurry!" Ralis exclaimed frantically.

"I don't have much to spare! You got swords, use them! Go!" Corwin shot back while taking aim at the dragon and firing her 2nd arrow at the dragon.

"But... but I..." Ralis stammered meekly.

He felt disheartened and worried, he did not want to get up close to Morentherene. He once always dreamed of fighting dragons when he was a child, but apparently, reality is different from fantasy, less fun and romantic and more serious, dire and terrifying. This is his first time encountering an adult dragon, and it is much scarier than he imagined it would be. Sure, he has met Mirrym in the catacombs of Candlekeep and that young green dragon recently, but Mirrym is a silver dragon ghost, and the other green dragon is much younger than Morentherene. This monster is a force to be reckoned with. Morentherene roared and flapped her wings at Rasaad, Jaheira, Voghiln, Minsc and Coogan, trying to knock them back with strong gusts of wind at them that nearly picked them up off their feet! They braced themselves, being buffeted by the gusts of wind and the bones of the dragon's victims, but it never blew them back, it only pushed them back a few feet, and the arrows that Corwin and Safana fired were blown back, hitting the wall behind them along with more than a dozen bones, and Glint's second sling bullet. Dynaheir, however, managed to hit the beast with two Magic Missiles. M'khiin managed to summon the five goblin warrior spirits and venomous snake and they charged towards the dragon, with M'khiin close behind to assist, wielding her Grubdoubler family war ax and shield.

Everyone except Ralis, who has no arrows to shoot at the dragon, attacked all at once, Morentherene felt overwhelmed, but she remained defiant and fought back. She tried breathing a cone of corrosive chlorine gas, but thanks to Dynaheir's Haste spell, Jaheira, Minsc and the others were able to swiftly dodge the dangerously lethal cloud. And at times she used her claws to attack as well. When either Minsc, Jaheira or Rasaad approach close enough to attack with their melee weapons, and flaming fists in Rasaad's case, she would try to slash her claws at them, and they would either dodge or parry. Rasaad, Jaheira and Coogan usually dodged, Voghiln and Minsc were more keen to parrying, and counterattacking, they would strike at Morentherene's claws and legs. Their weapons couldn't break through her stone hardened scales, but she still felt pain every time a sword or other melee weapon struck, or Rasaad's burning hands punched her, or when Corwin and Safana's arrows and Glint's bullets found their mark, or when the goblin warrior's weapons hit. Having run out of memorized Magic Missiles, Dynaheir had to resort to using her own sling and pack of sling bullets. M'khiin's summoned spirits and M'khiin herself were relentless, especially Coogan with her longsword.

Dynaheir noticed something wrong. Morentherene is obviously outnumbered and overwhelmed, but she is barely bleeding, as if her scales are hard as stones. On top of that, Corwin and Safana's arrows and Glint's sling bullets hardly pierce or bludgeon Morentherene's scales as if they are made of steel. Realizing the source of the problem, Dynaheir then cast Dispel Magic, dispelling the Stoneskin spell, and at that instant, her scales reverted back to their normal strength, and soon the onslaught of attacks began to wear down on her scales, breaking them and creating wounds that bled profusely. Snarling in frustration, she tried breathing more corrosive chlorine gas on everyone, but once again, they were quick to dodge it thanks to Dynaheir's Haste spell, and she tried to attack with her tail, claws and teeth, but dozens of attacks came at her at every turn, and when she felt the spirit of the poisonous snake bite into her hind left leg, she felt throbbing pain, some of it partially from the spectral venom. When Dynaheir cast Melf's Acid Arrow at the dragon, when the acidic arrow pierced her chest, she felt mild pain from the acid, but not severe pain. Seconds as the fight ensued, she grew more exhausted and wounded, and when one of M'khiin's poisonous throwing knives she obtained from a dead goblin back in the spider cave did Morentherene in. She collapsed dead with no resistance. After collapsing, she found some strength to try to stand up again, her legs trembling as if something very heavy is weighing her body down, and in seconds, she collapsed again, and stayed down, and blood continued gushing from her wounds, her snake-like tongue hanging out from her open mouth.

"Whew... I'm glad that's over. I thought my heart would jump right out of my chest," Glint exhaled in relief, wiping sweat off his forehead.

Jaheira and the others regrouped with the rest of the party, Jaheira's eyes fixed disapprovingly at Ralis.

"Ralis, what was wrong with you? Why didn't you attack the dragon with us?" She demanded like a mother scolding a child.

Ralis blinked twice, unable to maintain eye contact with Jaheira. "I... I-I-I... See, I just felt too terrified to get near the dragon, that's all..." he managed to say.

"Oh, grow a pair, you big child! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Are you a man, or a mouse?" Jaheira berated him, placing both hands on his shoulders and shook him once.

"He is a man, otherwise he would have a thin tail sticking out of his rear end," M'khiin noted casually.

Jaheira groaned. "That's beside the point of my question! Forget it, let's move onward, we are wasting time!"

The headed towards the passageway leading deeper into the caverns.

* * *

In the next rooms of Morentherene's lair, Ralis and his party encountered a tribe of bugbears in another wide chamber, this one lit up by more than a dozen torches anchored to the floor. Bugbears resemble goblins that are 7 feet tall, but their body is completely hairy unlike true goblins, and their nose and claws looks similar to the nose and claws of a grizzly bear, which is why they are called bugbears, but since their claws can't be used as weapons, bugbears have no choice but to use swords, and other melee weapons, and wear body armor, which is usually poor in quality.

" _Intruders! Intruders!_ " One of the bugbear soldiers exclaimed in the goblin language upon seeing Ralis and his party emerge from the tunnels.

"He called us intruders," M'khiin said to Ralis, acting as a translator.

"Whoa, calm down, we mean you no harm. M'khiin, tell him we mean no harm," Ralis said.

M'khiin was about to tell the bugbear guard what Ralis said in the goblin language, but the bugbear cut her off before she finished.

" _Kill the intruders! KILL THE INTRUDERS! Go!_ " He called to his brethren, and Ralis, M'khiin, Jaheira and the rest of the party saw armed bugbears emerge from their tents, wearing old, decrepit and battered splint mail and chainmail armor.

"So much for diplomacy..." Glint shrugged.

For the next few minutes, Ralis, Jaheira, Glint, Corwin, M'khiin, Safana, Rasaad, Minsc, Dynaheir, Voghiln and Coogan fought their way past the armed bugbears, stacking up bugbear bodies every five seconds. Bugbears are not too bright, they charge into battle without thinking or analyzing the best course of action to fight their enemy, and that is what led them all to get killed easily by the intruders. The only way deeper into the cavern is through the bugbear camp, and so they fought their way through for the next three minutes. During the battle, Safana couldn't help noticing that in front of a few tents there are maggots crawling over piles of bones and rotten meat, the sight of it made her suppress a gag reflex. As for Dynaheir, she only used her own sling and sling bullets during the skirmish, preferring to save her remaining memorized useful spells for later. They kept fighting through the camp heading northeast until they reached the end, where they found the bugbear chieftain named Snorgash flanked by five of his elite soldiers, standing between Ralis and his part and the tunnel that goes deeper into the other parts of the cavern.

"You kill clan! We kill you!" Snorgash exclaimed in the best Common he could muster.

Ralis was relieved that at least one of these creatures know how to speak his language. Common is the only language he knows.

"You can TRY to kill me, but I wouldn't recommend it," Ralis warned him.

"You stupid and small! You die now!" Snorgash exclaimed then charged at them with his bodyguards.

Everyone anticipated this coming, that diplomacy would not help them once again. Snorgash and his bodyguards, though they were outnumbered, put up good fight but they were inevitably felled. Then, without ceremony, they entered the tunnels behind the corpses of Snorgash and his five bodyguards. The bright illumination of the torches back in the bugbear camp chamber quickly grew dimmer as they ventured deeper into the narrow tunnels, moving out of the illumination's radius. They saw more light up ahead, coming from another room in the cavern apparently, and almost immediately, they saw the silhouette of a man running towards them. Ralis, Jaheira and everyone else who had a melee weapon including Glint, placed heir hands on their sheathed weapons, preparing for a possible incoming fight. The man silhouetted by the light of the room behind him stopped, giving 6 feet of space between him and the unknown intruders.

"Who are you? Actually, never mind. I just want to get out of here," he said, his voice fraught with fear.

Ralis couldn't properly distinguish the man's physical features because the bright light from the room behind him cast shadows over his body.

"Who are YOU?" Ralis threw the question back at him.

The man took a deep breath, trying to calm his jittery nerves before speaking.

"I am a faithful of The Mad God, but... I... I can no longer serve here."

Ralis knew the nickname "The Mad God" from somewhere. There is only one god who is known as The Mad God, and that is none other than Cyric himself, the god who used to be a mortal man.

"What's going on back there?" Rasaad asked the cultist.

"Strange things have been happening here for the past few days... voices in the dark... and... and..." His voice steadily rose high, hinting that whatever is going on, it must be very terrible. "I can't stay here no longer! I must leave!" He brushed his way past everyone and ran down the tunnel towards the bright room.

Inside the new room, Ralis and his party found themselves in what appears to be a makeshift prison room. To their left and right are several empty cages made out of steel bars, and in the center of the room is a deep pit ten feet in diameter. Minsc sniffed at the stale air and exclaimed:

"A den of stinking evil! Actually, this evil is not as smelly as it usually is. We come for you anyway, well-scrubbed evil!"

'Minsc! Keep your voice down!" Dynaheir whispered to her bodyguard harshly.

"Hello? Is someone here? Help! Let us out of here! Help!" A man with a distinct dwarf accent cried out nearby.

"There's someone else here!" Coogan said in surprise.

Rasaad was the first to know where the man who called to them is. In the northwestern corner of the dungeon, he saw five people, one male dwarf, two female humans, one male halfling and one male half-elf, dressed in the silver and white colored uniforms of Caelar's crusaders with the emblem of the sun cresting the horizon on the chest area of their uniforms, their body armor placed somewhere else in the dungeon.

"There they are!" Rasaad called out to his companions, pointing at the cages.

Ralis and everyone else rushed over to the occupied prison cages and took a look at the prisoners. They are tired, dirty and battered, but appear to be well fed despite their blemished condition, and behind them in each cage are medium sized tin buckets meant for them to expel their bodily waste into. Fortunately they haven't used them today yet, otherwise the stale cavern air in this dungeon would smell much worse.

"Who are you? You seem to be in a nasty spot," Ralis observed, speaking to the dwarf who he assumed to be Keherrem.

"Private Keherrem of the crusade here. We're on a real important mission, and these kooky cultists caught us. Help!" The dwarf replied, tears running down his dirty face to his large shaggy black beard.

"I'd be happy to let you out only if you promise to let me and my team join the crusade," Ralis said.

Keherrem vehemently nodded. "I can do that! My uncle Kharm, he can get you in. I'll see to it, just get us out of here."

"All right. Stand back," Ralis said, then he approached the door to Keherrem's cage and tried to force the lock open, but he couldn't do it, and rattling the cage made a lot of noise, not that no one else is around to hear it.

"Damn! I can't force the door open!" Ralis cursed.

"There must be a key around here somewhere! I saw a big lizard lady; maybe she has it. Free us and I'll do anything you say!" Keherrem said, fear and desperation in his voice, even his fellow crusaders were terrified even though they never spoke a single word.

"Okay, hang tight, we'll be right back," Ralis promised and he led his companions around the large pit in the center of the dungeon.

They didn't bother to peer down inside the dark pit, but when they got near it, they could smell the faint but foul scent of rotting flesh, urine and decaying feces wafting from the pit, and Ralis guessed that this pit must be where the cultists dump the bodily waste of their prisoners and their own. On the far eastern side of the pit near the only door out of the dungeon stood a lone cage containing a human woman in old, dirty tattered robes, signifying she has been wearing the robes for many years. She appeared to be several years older than Corwin, over 40 years old, her dark hair so long it reached down her back and several hair strings covered over her face. But the most disturbing thing about her is her upper and lower eyelids which are covered in dried bloodstains and have sunken into her empty eye sockets, meaning her eyeballs have have been gouged out. Ralis and his party didn't bother trying to speak to her, they were more focused on the door ahead.

"Who's there?" The woman called as soon as Ralis placed his hand on the door. "My eyes are gone, but I can hear you... smell you." Her voice became mild with insanity at that point, sending cold chills running up and down Ralis' spine. "My dark lord sends me company! Speak to me, you who smells of sunlight and blood. Tell me who it is that visits my dusty prison," she said, approaching Ralis and when the bars kept her from approaching further, she wrapped her dirty hands around the bars.

Ralis did not want to speak to this unwashed, eyeless, disturbing woman, but part of him felt some pity toward her, being locked in a cage for months having no one to communicate with would make anyone lose half or all of their sanity.

"Which dark lord is yours? There are so many these days..." Ralis asked, trying to talk casually but wishing he could hold his breath through the conversation, this woman's body odor, the odor of her soiled robes and the pungent scent of urine from her bucket further back in her cage made him want to gag.

" _The Lord of Murder,_ " the woman responded in a chilling singsong tone while she grinned, showing her unclean teeth stained with the blood of rats she had eaten for the past several years. "he who was lord here before treachery and deceit ended him. Still, though I lost both my sight and my freedom that fateful day, I remain faithful. Faithful! Though my name has withered to dust in this endless night, still I may be called FAITHFUL," she raised her voice, and Ralis shrunk back a few feet almost bumping into Corwin behind him, repulsed by her foul breath and emotional outburst.

"Lone travelers walked too close, feel into our nets, and we cut out their hearts. Blood ran down my arms, and I felt the Lord of Murder's blessing!" The woman continued ranting.

"So that means you are... were a priestess of Bhaal? I don't know if this means anything to you, but I am one of Bhaal's children," Ralis slowly said while composing himself and stepping forward a few inches towards the cage.

The woman let out an awestruck gasp of joy and a big smile spread across her lips as she spoke. "That a child of murder should stand before me! All is ordained. It is no chance that brings you here, divine one."

As she continued speaking, Coogan who is in no way familiar with Bhaal, whispered to Jaheira, asking her how can Ralis be a child of a god, and Jaheira proceeded to tell her everything she knew about Ralis's heritage, while Glint and Voghiln, who were also confused and curious, listened with Coogan.

"You are mistaken, I came here of my own free will. What happened here?" Ralis asked.

"The base god of treachery now rules here, his mocking laugh sears my brain. I will not say his name. She can never make me say his name! A new age of Bhaal will be upon us, and soon. The Harpers stole and slew our children, but still I remain faithful. The Lord of Murder will rise again," the woman replied, her voice still teetering on the edge of insanity as she brought her face close to the cage bars as if she believed that she can squeeze her head in the gap between the bars.

Ralis frowned in confusion, knowing it is not the usual style for Harpers to steal and slay children. For what purpose would they do that?

"The Harpers stole children? I do not believe you," Ralis said.

""Stole" is not the proper word," Jaheira interjected. ""Liberated" is more accurate. Harpers sometimes rescue innocents from cults prepared to sacrifice them."

"What tale shall I spin for you? That of our stolen children, or of our collapse?" The insane eyeless woman asked.

"Tell me about the children," Ralis suggested.

"A priestess and a Harper spy, meeting in darkness. Hiding their passion. Oh, but WE saw, WE knew," the woman said in a slight whisper while grinning, showing her rotten teeth once more. "His passion led him to careless speech, and she brought his words back to the temple. He thought his love could be stronger than the will of murder! Ha!"

Ralis made a mental note of this. A Harper spy in love with a priestess of Bhaal? A very dangerous gamble to reveal secret intentions to a priest or priestess of an evil god, when priests and priestesses are unrelentingly loyal to their god above friends and loved ones as if their very lives depended on it.

"On the day when the Harpers raided the temple, he came upon his lover with a dagger raised over her living child. Her GIFT to raise our slain master from the dead. How he pleaded with her not to send her own flesh to the Lord of Murder. An arrow from one of his allies pierced her throat even as she laughed at his folly. They took our children, the blood we would have used to return Bhaal to power. I, I didn't give up! My faith holds strong! Before we could try again, though, the others came."

"Who? The cultists who destroyed your temple?" Ralis asked.

"Yes," the woman nodded, prolonging the "s" in "yes" like a snake would. "We plotted and planned, to find a way to search out our lost children and sacrifice them to our lost god. Then they came, the followers of... I will NOT say his name," the woman said.

Ralis didn't need her to say his name, he knew she is referring to Cyric.

"They came for us, gloating and preening, their shiny knives raised. I got the best of HER, though. I said I would slay them all in Bhaal's name while my followers fled. Even the Lord of Murder keeps his promises! I broke their teeth with my dagger-blade, and gouged out their throats while their bloody gums gnawed at my hand!" The woman continued, her voice steadily growing more insane, then she started laughing quietly in a disturbing fashion that made Ralis and his party believe that if she stays locked up any longer, she might start chewing her own fingers. But soon the woman continued her story. "But she caught me in the end, yes. My faithful were safe, but I was trapped. Dusty bones in a rusty cage. Powerful wards to keep me alive long after I should have died. She took my eyes and tells me tales of her lord's power. She says Bhaal is gone, and Cyr... no. I will not say his name. _I will NEVER say his name!_ " She exclaimed, spittle flying out her mouth, and once again Ralis stepped back.

"So that means you've been locked up for almost a decade, then?" Ralis asked.

The insane woman scoffed indifferently. "The years do not matter, they did not break me, did not end my devotion!" She exclaimed then broke into that long, chilling insane laughter again.

"I've come here seeking a wardstone stolen by a priest of Cyric. Do you know where I might find such a thing?" Ralis asked.

"You... you can..." The woman's voice trailed off and she stepped back a few inches, putting both of her hands up to her forehead. "...Ugh. UGGGGH," she groaned in pain. "My head... my HEAD...!" She wailed, then she fell down on her knees and exhaled in relief and exhaustion. Then she lay on the cold floor, curling up in a fetal position. "Tired... so tired. Ziatar knows, she has... what you need. I must rest now... almost over. Almost done," she said in a tone that is disturbingly calm compared to her outbursts.

"Almost done? What do you mean?" Ralis asked.

"The voice in my head, it tells me... this is almost at an end. Soon, I shall rest," she replied.

"I will find this Ziatar as you have instructed," Ralis said.

"Go. I shall rest," the woman replied.

Ralis shifted his focus to the door nearby, walked up to it and pushed it open, entering it with his party close behind.

* * *

They found themselves in what seems to be a long hallway, with several doors to certain rooms on both sides every five steps. Rasaad, Ralis and Voghiln assumed to themselves that the doors must lead to the dormitories of the cultists, and the door at the far end of the hallway. When they passed by the fourth doors to their left and right, they heard a woman in the room to their left moaning and groaning.

Curious, Ralis walked up to the door and knocked. "Hello? Are you all right in there?" He called.

No reply, the groans from the woman inside the room continued. She sounded as if she is in too much pain, so it is very unlikely she is with a lover in there, so Ralis _twisted_ the doorknob, finding it unlocked and walked inside. Inside the woman's dormitory room, he found her sitting at the edge of her bed, a human woman clenching her hands in her almond colored short hair. She wore the tan robes of Cyric's cultists.

"Careful, Ralis. We don't know what is afflicting her," Dynaheir warned him.

Ralis nodded in response to her.

"I... can't stop... the voice... ugggh!" The woman groaned and fell back on her bed, still experiencing the severe migraine.

"You're hearing a voice in your head?" Ralis asked.

"It infiltrated my thoughts... aaaah...! Used me to bring its monsters here, murdered my people. I can sense it... nearby. In the reliquary... I can't... AAAAAGH!" The woman tossed and turned violently on her bed, overwhelmed by the pain.

Then she quickly stood up on her feet and charged at Ralis, a dagger in her left hand. When she attempted to stab him, Ralis caught her left wrist then headbutted her, knocking her down to he floor unconscious. Ralis knew that he will get no more information in her condition, so he turned his attention to the journal laying on the small dresser next to her bed and read it. He learned from the journal that this woman's name is Akanna, and she is Ziatar's most trusted priestess in the cult. Ralis read the following in Akanna's journal:

" _1360 DR_

 _We have seized the temple of the Lord of Murder. We killed many of Bhaal's clergy. Others escaped, but I claimed a prize for myself, the high priestess Madele. I have caged her while I decide what glorious things to do with her. Praise Cyric. Fear the Dark Sun._

 _1363 DR_

 _I decided once again not to kill Madele. I take too much pleasure from her madness. Instead, I removed her eyes and roasted them in a brazier as an offering to my lord Cyric. I ate them afterwards, their smoky, blistered jelly a delightful treat. The pathetic wretch continues to cry out to her dead god. I've filled her head with tales of Cyric's rise, and she believes my lord rules over all the darkened land (as someday he will!)._

 _1365 DR_

 _We have a pleasant routine, my Madele and I. Once a tenday I visit her, sometimes more, sometimes less. I have forgotten about her once or twice, and she's had to eat her own offerings of rats and lizards she murders in Bhaal's name. Then I spin my tales of Cyric's dominance until she works herself into a frenzy. Last week she actually collapsed in a fit, thrashing and choking. I watched her until it passed, letting her own body decide whether to kill her or not._

 _(The latest entry is dated in 1368 DR, one week ago.)_

 _Another headache last night. I've been having strange dreams of darkness and water. Is this a sending from the Prince of Lies? I can't tell... my thoughts are muddled and confused. I fear something is wrong."_

"What does it say?" Safana asked curiously.

"This woman here is the one responsible for gouging out that other woman's eyes, and ever since last week she has been having strange nightmares about dark waters," Ralis explained.

"Dark waters...?" Rasaad rubbed his chin.

"Let's get to the reliquary, maybe we'll find answers there," Ralis suggested.

They left Akanna's dormitory and continued down the hall. When they were halfway down the hallway, they saw the door at the far end open up, and a cultist, a man around Rasaad's age came bolting down the hallway towards them screaming as if he is being chased by hell hounds.

"MONSTERS! THEY'RE KILLING US! RUN!" The cultist screamed at the top of his lungs and he bolted past Ralis and his companions, never stopping.

"Monsters?! Come on, let's see what's going on!" Coogan exclaimed.

"Ho ho! I feel an epic fight coming soon!" Voghlin smiled enthusiastically.

Ralis and his party ran down the hallway until they reached the open door at the end. They found themselves in a wide open ritual room that is 80 feet in length and 70 feet in width, the floor is designed like a chess board with black and white square patterns, and on both sides of the room there are two large pillars adorned with bas-relief skeletons, and in the center of the room is Cyric's symbol, a white skull that lacks a jaw in the middle of purple sunburst. The cultists who remained behind in this room, along with a woman with lime green skin and wings of a dragon clad in body armor wielding a sword were fighting some kind of giant purple worm.

"Oh gods! This is not good!" Jaheira's eyes widened, recognizing what the giant worm is.

"What is that?!" Ralis pointed out.

"A nightmare from the Underdark, that's what it is!" Coogan said.

"A neothelid!" Rasaad gasped.

Neothelids are giant worm-like creatures from the Underdark that are related to mind flayers, and they have the ability to dominate, manipulate and control the mind of any living creature. Fortunately, they are extremely rare, even in the society of mind flayers because a mind flayer tadpole must go through a process called "ceremorphosis" while an elder brain, the most mature and revered mind flayer, is dead. While an elder brain is alive, it eats mind flayer tadpoles that try to develop via ceremorphosis, so with the elder brain dead, chaos ensues in the spawning pools with many tadpoles fighting for the right to survive and mature. If one mind flayer tadpole that successfully went through ceremorphosis survives the anarchy, it will grow into a giant slug-like creature, eventually becoming a neothelid, but not instantly, it will need to eat a sentient creature to become self-aware and gain psionic powers, something this one has already done.

Ziatar, the tall woman with green skin and dragon wings tried to get up close to the neothelid and strike it with her sword, but the noethelid wouldn't stay stationary, it stayed on the move, circling Ziatar and her three remaining cultists.

"Time to kick some slimy worm butt!" Minsc exclaimed, charging forward with his sword drawn.

"Right behind you!" Voghiln followed behind Minsc, holding Kondar in his right hand and his war ax in his right. Corwin and Safana began launching their volley of arrows while everyone else attempted to engage in melee combat against the neothelid.

The giant worm paused in front of one cultist, a man with receding gray hair, then out its mouth appeared several tentacles. They grabbed the man, holding his arms, legs and torso tightly and pulled him towards its open maw.

" _NO!_ " The man screamed in horror.

"NO!" Ziatar and two other cultists yelled in unison.

The man entered the neothelid's maw and it swallowed him.

"Destruction! Ruin! Mayhem! Other synonyms for death!" Glint exclaimed as he attacked the neothelid with Minsc and Voghiln, swinging his mace at the slimy skin of the creature, damaging the skin to the point when its wounds leaked dark violet blood.

Ralis came up the same time as Rasaad and Voghlin did and joined the attack. The neothelid squealed in pain, noticing the two attackers even while the cultists fores several Magic Missiles at it, then it used its psi powers to dominate Minsc's mind. After pulling his sword out the the worm's wound, Minsc suddenly had a head splitting migraine!

" _AAAGGH!_ " he yelled in pain, nearly dropping to his knees.

"Minsc! What's happening?!" Rasaad exclaimed.

Minsc didn't reply. He turned to face Rasaad, then swung his sword at him! Rasaad dodged the attack fortunately.

"Minsc! What are you doing!"

"The creature has dominated his mind!" Dynaheir said, then quickly attempted to cast the Slow spell on Minsc rather than the neothelid, because with Minsc under the creature's control, the fight will turn ugly in an instant unless he is subdued somehow. Voghiln and Glint abandoned attacking the worm and made sure they were a safe distance away from Minsc even though his movements have been slowed.

Ziatar attacked the giant worm with her sword, but she only managed to stab the creature before she got whipped aside by the end of its tail. With Minsc slowed by Dynaheir he is no longer a serious threat, they just have to make sure to stay out of his way, and so everyone continued to attack the neothelid, Ziatar and her two remaining cultists attacking on one side, Ralis and his group attacking on the other side. The worm noticed Corwin further back with Safana and Dynaheir and decided to use telekinesis on her. At that moment Corwin felt herself being lifted up in the air, the ground gradually descending away from her feet.

"Whoa- whoaa...!" Corwin yelled, dropping her longbow after being lifted 12 feet in the air.

Then the neothelid moved Corwin under Safana and dropped her on top of the sultry thief. Then it turned its attention to Ziatar's two cultists and cast Control Body on the woman. Now in control of the cultist woman's body as if it were its own, the neoilithid pulled a dagger out of the woman's robes, jumped at the unsuspecting man and stabbed him in the stomach, and he collapsed dead, then the neothelid made the woman cut her own throat, and now they lie atop each other in a gross heap of a growing pool of blood.

"This is bad. Very bad," M'khiin said to Coogan.

"Don't give up! It's bleeding!" She said to the goblin, then noticed Minsc coming at her sword drawn but as slow as a turtle, then moved away from him as he slowly swung his sword down.

Ralis, powered up by his Call Upon Holy Might power mercilessly slashed at the neoilithid's body, creating more wounds than anyone else was, and eventually the worm's intestines spilled out all over the floor and it collapsed dead.

The room fell silent now. Too silent, and everyone got the feeling in their gut that this fight isn't over yet. Then the sound of footsteps echoed around the room. Everyone, including Ziatar looked around in alarm, trying to locate the source of the noise. Rasaad and Voghiln were the first to see who is approaching. From the east side of the wide open ritual room, a humanoid looking creature dressed in pitch black robes with the head of a squid or octopus with four tentacles extending down from its mouth to the waist level of its body approached them, glaring at them with dark, soulless eyes.

"What is that...?" Rasaad pointed at the approaching creature.

Jaheira gasped in horror. "Oh no...! This is worse than I thought...!"

Ralis had no idea what it is, but his instincts told him that this is not a friendly creature. Then suddenly, a mental image filled his thoughts, playing out like a collection of images telling a story. In the images, the strange creature walks down a dark passage before emerging into the bloody red light of the temple. It now stands above a pile of bodies in an attitude of triumph. Ziatar is among the mountain of corpses, Rasaad, Jaheira, everyone, and Ralis even saw himself in the pile, his brain removed from his skull. Ralis then realized that this creature is communicating to him telepathically, not by using words, but with mental images, and it is threatening him, his party and Ziatar.

"Who are you? What are your plans here?" Ralis asked the creature, hoping it understands his words.

Then the image in Ralis's mind changes to that of a dozen octopus head creatures bowing before an enormous pulsating brain in a pool of dark green colored liquid in this temple's reliquary. With the image, Ralis sensed the creature telepathically projecting its emotions to him, a feeling of triumph, glory and success. Then the image faded away in a swirl of blackness and menace, foreshadowing that the creature is finished communicating with Ralis and now wants to fight.

Before anyone could react, the mind flayer used one of its psionic abilities, Mind Blast to stun everyone. Ralis, his party and Ziatar felt a shockwave that rocked their skulls, and they collapsed on the ground, feeling as if they had recently had the worst hangover in their lives. Ralis couldn't believe what just happened. This creature knocked them down before they could lift a finger! Even Ziatar lie helplessly on the floor. The mind flayer approached Ralis and stood over him, its head tentacles twitching hungrily. Ralis wanted to call for help, but he couldn't do anything, its as if his mind and body had been paralyzed. The mind flayer reached down at him with a thin, cold, bony hand, grabbed Ralis by the neck and pulled him back up on his feet. Then the mind flayer telepathically projected the mental image of it placing Ralis' head into its mouth and sucking his brain out of his head. Horrified, Ralis began to believe that this is the end of his life. Just when the mind flayer spread its tentacles wide, revealing its mouth full of sharp teeth, a crossbow quarrel struck the creature's head, and in a split second later, it collapsed dead, releasing Ralis, and he found himself standing on his feet, free from the stunning effect of Mind Blast, and so is everyone else.

Ralis looked over at the spot where Cyric's symbol is on the floor and noticed that one of Ziatar's cultists is still alive but bloodied, lying on the floor and holding a handheld crossbow up, his right hand trembling, then he collapsed dead. Thanks to that cultist, the mind flayer is dead. Ziatar walked up to the mind flayer's body as Ralis stepped back, then kicked its lifeless corpse.

"So. It's dead. I no longer hear the whispers in my head," she said.

"So, that was it. That thing is what was making your top priestess have a severe headache?" Ralis asked her.

Ziatar looked at Ralis with disapproving yellowish eyes.

"If you expect me to say "thank you" for helping me slay these beasts, then you are sadly mistaken. I don't know how you made it this far into this place, but your progress- and your life- ends here with me," she threatened, holding her bloodstained sword tightly in her hands.

Ralis couldn't get over the fact that she looks looks human with dragon attributes. Standing upright 5'10 feet tall, she has the wings and legs of a green dragon, but the only thing human about her is her face, nose, eyes, mouth and arms, and she has no hair on her head, just the waving crest that all green dragons have. Ziatar is a strange yet beautiful hybrid of dragon and human. He couldn't help wondering the identity of her parents. If her father is human, did he know the woman he made love with was actually a disguised green dragon? Or if her mother was human, did she know that her "human" lover was actually a green dragon? Ralis couldn't imagine a green dragon of any gender having the desire to produce an offspring with a human, it makes no sense. Gold or silver dragons, maybe, they are generally more cordial and friendly with humans and other races, but not chromatic dragons like green dragons, it just does not add up. Then again, there are many strange things in the Realms, some that don't make sense at all, like how can a Beholder creature be a head without a body, or a giant cube of gelatin act like a living creature that consumes and digests unwary dungeon explorers.

"You... you look to have draconic heritage," Ralis observed, and on a hunch, he added, "Are you related to the dragon I slew called Morentherene?"

Ziatar's eyes widened and she flinched in shock.

"What?! No! Not Morenth! It can't be true! You cannot have slain my sister!" She exclaimed.

"Sister?!" Ralis repeated with a shocked gasp, even Coogan and the others were astonished to hear this.

He couldn't believe it. He thought Morentherene was a pureblood green dragon! Though he never figured it out, this means that half-dragons can change forms to make themselves appear as a pureblood dragon, or take a more humanoid form at will.

"How...?! She looked like a pureblood dragon, how...?" Ralis stammered in disbelief.

Ziatar snapped out of her astonishment and held her sword up.

" _I'll kill you for what you've done!_ " She snarled, showing her small teeth which are sharp enough to easily tear skin and flesh off bones, and bite off her own tongue if she were careless.

She charged at Ralis in a rage, swinging her broadsword in a rage, trying to cut off this wretched young human's head or at least cut his arm or leg off so she can have the satisfaction of hearing him scream in pain. Ralis parried each blow successfully, taken by surprise by the fury of Ziatar's rage. His party stayed close by, but they did not interfere with the fight, they didn't plan on interfering until the odds tip in Ziatar's favor. Ralis remained defensive, parrying Ziatar's strikes even though his strength is still enhanced by Call Upon Holy Might, and Ziatar continued swinging at him, their swords constantly clashing, her eyes blazing with rage, and Ralis knew that she won't last long like this, soon she will become too fatigued to fight, that is his strategy. That or wait for a moment when she gets too careless and leaves herself open to be attacked.

"What is he doing? Why isn't he fighting back?" Coogan asked Safana.

"I don't know," Safana replied.

"Die, you bastard!" Ziatar snarled, then pulled her sword back in preparation for a powerful horizontal swing, and Ralis crouched down just when the blade sailed over his head. She put too much force in the swing and she couldn't bring her sword back in time to parry. Ralis simply stabbed Severance into Ziatar's chest, the blade piercing through her armor plating and into her scales, punching over her heart but severing an artery.

Ziatar gasped and groaned softly, and she felt weaker and weaker as the sword stayed penetrated into her chest, and Ralis felt more and more stronger thanks to the sword every second. When he pulled the sword out of her chest, Ziatar collapsed on her knees. She looked up at Ralis weakly and wanted to curse him, or spit in his face, but she no longer had the energy to do that. Her whole world turned black, and she died before she fell face first into the puddle of neothelid blood which is still spreading across the floor rapidly. Ralis then turned her body over with some effort and checked the blood-soaked small bags attached to her belt and found the keys to the cages in the dungeon... Even the wardstone, which is a bright blue smooth stone even though it is partially covered in neolithid blood.

* * *

They returned to the dungeon and used the key to free Keherrem and his team.

"Thank you! Come see my uncle Kharm at the crusade camp near Bridgefort. I'm sure he'll want to reward you for your good deeds! We're headin' back there right now," He said gratefully, then he and his team put on their body armor, made sure their weapons were fastened on their belt and left.

Ralis and his group left with them, leaving Madele in her cage asleep and all alone in the abandoned temple. Ralis thought about freeing her, but what good will it do? She is blind, she won't survive out in the forest on her own long. Dying of thirst or starvation seems more merciful, that's more mercy than a priestess of Bhaal deserves, especially one who tried to sacrifice young children and babies to their dead god.


	10. Chapter 10 Battle For Bridgefort part 1

Ralis and his party journeyed through the southwestern outskirts of the Forest of Wyrms for back to Boareskyr Bridge feeling a sense of accomplishment. They are alive, they have the wardstone, and Ralis and his group are one step closer to earning the trust of the crusaders who have Bridgefort besieged. The party walked through the forest, heading southwest back towards Bridgefort. With a party of sixteen people, no predator in the forests that made up the southwestern outskirts of the Forest of Wyrms dared to attack them, not even a single displacer beast attempted to attack them. Ralis walked alongside Keherrem to his left, Keherrem's party of five crusaders to his right, and Ralis's own party following close behind.

"I owe you my life, Liam. I don't know how you found us, but I'm glad you showed up when you did," Keherrem said to Railis.

To hide his true identity, Ralis told Keherrem that his name is Liam Ensler.

"Think nothing of it. I just like to believe that all of this happened for a reason," Ralis stated.

Keherrem grinned wide. "Whatever the case may be, I'm glad you showed up when you did."

The entire group kept walking through the forest several more yards in silence before the next person spoke up, a human man with short red hair, blue eyes and a few freckles around his nose.

"Look, uh, don't accuse me for looking a gift horse in the mouth, but how did you find us? I mean there is no way our superiors could have told you where we were," he said while scratching his nose for a few seconds.

"It wasn't easy finding you, I'll say that much. We ran into giants, giant spiders and giant beetles... But as you can see, we survived it all," Glint stated cheerfully to the redhead man.

"Speak for yourself, Glint. I almost became spider food," Ralis said as he turned back to look at Glint, glaring at him.

"Yes, yes, that is very true, but in timely fashion, we came to your rescue," Glint replied, unfazed by the offended glare Ralis gave him.

"Ho ho, the little gnome is right! Take pride in the fact that you live to see today, tomorrow and the days after tomorrow! Not many who were in your perilous predicament can say the same thing!" Voghiln came up to Ralis and gave him a friendly pat on his back.

Ralis smiled a little, wanting to take pride in that he is still alive, but the memory of that giant spider with a missing leg coming close to chewing his face off will forever be burned into his memory, hard to forget. Keherrem, his remaining party and Ralis and his party continued chatting for a while as they walked through the forest, except for Jaheira, she stayed silent, listening or watching for any signs of danger. Under normal circumstances, everyone wouldn't talk much, but they felt confident in the strength of their numbers.

"... For what it's worth, at least the mission wasn't a failure. You found the wardstone we were looking for," Keherrem said.

Ralis reached into the jewel bag and pulled out the wardstone, looking at it in the palm of his right hand.

"So this little stone here will turn the tide at Bridgefort, huh?" Ralis asked Keherrem.

"Yep. At least that's what Uncle Kharm says," Keherrem said.

"Hey, uh, Liam, got a minute?" One of Keherrem's party members, the young human man with short red hair came up to Ralis with a book in his left hand.

"What is it?" Ralis looked at him with open curiosity.

"Before we left that cultist cavern, I filched this book off a body of one of the dead cultists." He handed the book to Ralis and he took the book into his hands.

"What's it about?" Ralis asked, flipping through the pages slowly.

"I don't know, I haven't read through it all yet. But from what I recall from the pages I have read, those cultists were particularly interested in this dead god called Bhaal, and how he died," the man replied.

Ralis felt a cold shiver run down his spine. What Keherrem and his party, including Glint, Voghiln, M'khiin and Coogan don't know is that he is one of Bhaal's children. He had heard tales of how Bhaal died, but remembering how he died with the knowledge that he is one of his sons makes this all feel surreal. Ralis found a page that caught his attention. It says:

" _In the Time of Troubles, the god Mask, Lord of Shadows, hid himself within a blade of terrible power, called Godsbane. The blade was sharp enough to bleed even a divine being. Cyric took up Godsbane when he faced Bhaal, Lord of Murder, on the mortal plane. Mask laughed from within the blade's steel as Cyric slew Bhaal and cast his body into the river below. The waters turned foul and tainted, poisoned evermore as the Lord of Murder's corpse sank beneath the surface._ "

Ralis closed the book and handed it back to the young man without turning his head to look at him.

"Well? What do you think, Liam?" He asked Ralis.

Ralis looked up at the branches of trees above everyone and the blue morning sky beyond the branches.

"... Honestly... *sigh*, I don't even know what I think," he said sullenly.

* * *

At that moment they emerged out of the cluster of trees and into a clearing, a clearing mostly devoid of grass. And almost immediately, they saw something in that clearing that made their eyes widen and mouths drop open in shock and awe.

"By Moradin's hammer...!" Keherrem gasped softly.

"What the hell happened here...?" Jaheira whispered in disbelief.

What they saw, in the middle of a clearing is a large crater. 22 feet wide in diameter, and possibly 16 feet deep. The crater is sixteen feet ahead of everyone, a rather abnormal sight in the forest.

"Who or what the hells made something like this?" One of Keherrem's fellow crusaders wondered aloud as everyone cautiously advanced towards the crater, Ralis, Minsc, Rasaad and Keherrem taking the lead of the group.

"Someone who is very adept in the art of spellcasting..." Rasaad guessed, peering down into the crater while standing on its edge.

Jaheira joined up between Rasaad and Minsc, peering down into the crater with them with a mild scowl of concern on her face.

"Or maybe more than one spellcaster. This is bad," she guessed.

"What makes you think that?" Ralis asked Jaheira with a puzzled frown.

"Use your head," she scolded. "There is not a single mage in these lands that can cause this much damage alone."

The entire group now gathered around the crater's northeastern edges, peering down into it.

"The only way to find out what happened is to go down there and find some clues," Coogan said.

"Nah-ah, it's too risky," Keherrem quickly shook his head in denial. "See how steep that crater's slope is?" He pointed out. "There is no way to climb back out unless somebody got some rope."

Coogan crouched down near the rim of the crater and peered down into the center, seeing something among the charred soil. Something white. It looks like a piece of paper.

"Hey. I see something down there," Coogan informed everyone.

"No, forget about it. I recommend not going down there unless you have a way to climb back out," Keherrem warned her.

Then, without warning, Ralis jumped into the crater and slid down to its center!

"What the?! Liam! What the blazes are ya doing?!" Keherrem exclaimed.

Ralis slid down to the center of the crater four seconds after Keherrem noticed that he jumped in there. Ralis is somewhat in a sitting position, very close to the object that caught Coogan's attention. Ralis grabbed the white object and pulled it out of the soil, discovering that it is a partially damaged piece of paper with something written on it.

"A letter?! You risked your neck for a letter, Liam?!" Keherrem exclaimed.

"I've done worse for less!" Ralis called back, then started to read what he could on the letter. The note, although smeared in dirt and torn in half, some parts are still readable, in the elf language, not Common. It says:

" _Valeriss,_

 _Our scouts espied the Exile near Boareskyr Bridge. Do not allow him to escape the justice he merits. Our queen is merciful, but you and I both know that he has fallen too far to be saved. You are the strongest of our mages- use the power at your disposal. We must ensure the safety of Suldanessellar at any cost_."

Ralis has no knowledge of the elf language, so unfortunately he couldn't understand a word of it.

"Well, Liam? Was it worth it?" Keherrem called down, breaking Ralis out of his thoughts.

"Hard to say. Give me a minute," Ralis called back, placing the tattered paper in one of his item bags and unsheathing both of his swords, preparing to use them to climb out of the steep crater.

Using them to climb out worked well so far, the soil is soft enough for the blades to dig deep into, allowing Ralis to climb up without sliding back down. All he had to do is anchor Albruin down first, then pull himself up, then anchor Severance down, then climb up while pulling Albruin out and anchoring Albruin further up, then pulling himself further up and pulling Severance out and anchoring it further up, and so on. Kherrem laughed in amusement at Ralis's resourceful thinking. It took him little more than a minute to get close to the crater's rim where everyone else stood.

"Well I'll be damned. You sure know how to use your brain, Liam," he said with a hearty laugh when he and Rasaad pulled Ralis out of the crater.

"What did you find down there?" Glint asked.

Ralis pulled the piece of paper out of his item bag. "A letter. I can't read it because it is written in the elf language." Ralis said.

"Let me read it," Jaheira ordered, taking the letter out of Ralis's hands and read it aloud.

"Hmm. So this Valeriss was a mage sent by someone from Sul... uh... Suldun... Suldan... essellar to deal with someone known as the Exile? Judging by this crater and the tattered state of this note, I'm guessing Valeriss was defeated by this Exile," Ralis guessed after Jaheira read the note aloud.

"I've heard of this place, Suldanessellar. That is an elf city far south from here, in the forests somewhere between Amn and Tethyr, or so I heard. I've never been there before, but I've heard of it," Coogan said.

"I think we are overlooking the more relevant piece of information. Who is this Exile, and how did he manage to defeat a powerful mage sent to kill him?" Jaheira interjected with mild annoyance in her voice.

"Jaheira is right. This is a troubling detail," Rasaad said.

Glint gently scratched his hairless chin in thought for a few seconds before he blurted out: "I think that this Exile might be a mage too. Yep, I think that's it, what we are standing near is the aftermath of an epic mage vs mage battle."

Everyone lapsed into silence for a few seconds, thinking of this new detail Glint sprung on them.

"I don't like this," Coogan said uneasily, breaking the silence between them. "Two mages in a fight? And one of them is known as an exile? There is something odd going on here, and I don't like it."

"I agree. But we can't sit here speculating on an event we didn't witness. Let's focus on the task at hand and deliver Keherrem and his scouts back to Bridgefort," Ralis said, then they walked around the big crater, heading southwest.

* * *

Hours later, they reached Bridgefort less than an hour away from highsun. The guards in front of the palisade gate stood where they always have been, keeping a watchful eye on anyone coming up the road from Soubar. When the Crusader sergeant saw Ralis and his party approaching with Keherrem and his scouts, she frowned in confusion.

"Is that who I think it is...?" The crusader to her left leaned towards her and whispered towards her ear asked.

Before the sergeant could reply, Ralis exclaimed: "We have returned. And we have brought Kharm's son and his scouting party with us."

The crusaders around the sergeant gasped in unison.

"What?"

"I don't believe it...!"

"This is going to put Kharm back in a good mood!"

The sergeant approached tired and dirty Keherrem with a smile on her face.

"Welcome back, sir," she said.

"Good to be back," Keherrem replied with a relieved smile partially concealed by his small beard, then gestured his right arm towards Ralis. "If it weren't for Liam Esler and his lot, we probably would have starved to death or worse, been dragon chow."

The sergeant turned her attention to Ralis and smiled at him.

"I had my doubts about you. I didn't think that you would succeed, or less, forget about searching for him. I should have had more faith in the gods," she said humbly.

"I figure I'm here for a good reason. I meant what I said, you know. I want to help your cause," Ralis said in a sincere tone.

"That's not for me to judge. We'll let Kharm be the judge of that. You may enter." As soon as the sergeant said that, two crusaders, a man wearing a helmet and a woman with short dark blond hair approached the closed gate and pushed it open.

Then Kherrem approached Ralis and said to him: "Let me and my scouts enter first. Officer Delgar Munsch doesn't trust strangers easily."

"Got it. Go on ahead, we're right behind you," Ralis nodded, then let Keherrem and his scouts move on towards the open gates.

Corwin rubbed her chin in thought as she followed Ralis with his party, finding the name Delgar Munsch very familiar.

When Ralis and his party entered the palisade, he took stock of his surroundings, noticing that the inside of the palisade surrounding Bridgefort is a perfect spot for a tent community, there are crusader tents all over the place, too many to count with so many crusaders around, ranging from man to woman, human, elf, half-elf, dwarf and gnome doing various activities. Some were playing board games like Checkers and Chess, laughing and telling jokes, some were practicing skill with sword, bow or crossbow, shooting arrows at practice dummies made out of straw and held up with a wooden pole like scarecrows fairly close to the right side of the cobblestone road. For those practicing their skill with swords and other melee weapons, they were attacking practice dummies wearing various kinds of body armor. Ralis was surprised to see that there is a community here near Boareskyr Bridge. The story behind Bridgefort's community is that even though there is no formal government here, two adventurers named Barim Stagwinter and Theskul Mirroreye walled off a tent community in order to make a proper town near Boareskyr Bridge several years ago, which is an impressive accomplishment.

The cobblestone road leads to a closed gate 42 feet ahead to Boareskyr Bridge on the other side, and 19 feet ahead between the gate Ralis and the others came from and the gate leading to the bridge, the path branches to the right, towards the fort of Bridgefort itself. To the far right, near the moat's edge, there are little more than a dozen crusaders hiding behind large thick wooden planks used as shields and firing arrows and crossbow quarries up at the Bridgefort rebels up on the fort's walls, firing down their own arrows and crossbow bolts in return.

The crusade also had a few siege weapons lined up several yards away from the fort's moat and the crusaders shooting arrows and bolts up at the walls, two catapults and one trebuchet that almost looks like a counterweight. Ralis couldn't help wondering how the fort could still be standing after all this time if the crusade has been using siege weapons on them. The only possible explanation is that a group of mages within the fort are using magic spells to enhance the wards that shield the fort.

"I wonder where they keep all the drinks?" Voghiln wondered aloud, but he was largely ignored. But not for long.

"Hold! Who are the new faces?" A man nearby exclaimed.

Ralis and his party froze where they stood, trying to see where the voice came from. They got their answer when they saw a gruff man clad in full bright silver plate mail armor with the emblem of Caelar's Crusaders embroidered on the breastplate of his body armor, four crusaders flanking him on both sides as they aprpoaced Ralis and his party with wary frowns. The gruff man who spoke wore a helmet that covers only his head but no part of his face, revealing his piercing gray eyes and thick dark brown sideburns and beard.

"I see a lot of new faces here. Who are you, and where did you come from?" The gruff man asked.

Ralis opened his mouth to speak, but Keherrem returned to speak for him, positioning himself between the gruff man and Ralis.

"At ease, Delgar. This man and his companions rescued me from certain death. They want to assist our cause, that's why I invited them here," Keherrem explained.

 _"(Delgar? Delgar Munsch?)"_ Corwin whispered to herself, realizing why that name sounds familiar.

She learned about it from Duncan's field report. In his report, Duncan explained that when he and his fellow scouts asked the people here at Bridgefort about what they knew about the crusade, several of them brought up the name Delgar Munsch. He used to be a leader of a band of hunters. No one he worked with or personally knew him considered him a friend because everyone viewed his personality as gruff and overbearing with an inflated sense of self-importance, but when it comes down to mentioning his skill with a sword and bow, everyone has nothing but good things to say about it. Delgar's band of hunters used to hunt not only deer, rabbits and turkeys, but also goblins and orcs for sport. For some reason, Delgar retired from being a hunter and at some point in his life, for reasons unknown, he joined Caelar's Crusaders. One of his former hunting partners told Duncan that Delgar has been made an officer in the Crusader ranks, a position of authority he really enjoys.

Delgar rolled his eyes as soon as Keherrem claimed responsibility of inviting Ralis and his party into Bridgefort.

"Gods. There's too many damned people joining this bloody thing." He moaned.

Keherrem cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow, silently ordering Delgar to accept the newcomers whether he likes it or not. Delgar got the message and sighed.

"Okay, okay." He took a few steps towards Ralis and extended his right hand for a handshake. "I'm Munsch. Delgar Munsch. Right hand to Colonel Cordell."

"I'm Ensler. Liam Ensler. These are my traveling companions Corwin, Rasaad, Safana, Jaheira, Coogan, Minsc, Dynaheir, Voghiln and Glint." Ralis replied and shook Delgar's hand, and took note that he had a strong, firm grip even though his arms aren't muscular. _Probably comes from handling a sword and bow for so many years_.

M'khiin is with the party even though Ralis didn't mention her, but she is hiding inside Coogan's rucksack because Corwin is certain that the crusaders would attack M'khiin in sight.

"What're you doing here now, Ensler?" Delgar asked.

"Looking to join your glorious cause, sir. Currently I'm cleaning latrines," Ralis said casually, and with a hint of sarcasm at the end.

Keherrem snickered, recognizing that Ralis was subtly being a smartass to Delgar.

Delgar nodded approvingly yet indifferently. "Be about yer business then," he said dismissively then walked away, his guards following.

When Delgar and his guards moved far enough away, Ralis shifted his eyes towards Keherrem's direction and said to him: "He's a regular snob, huh?"

"Pay him no mind. Between you and me, he's a bit of an arse. Come on, I don't want to keep my uncle waiting." Keherrem said to Ralis, still smiling, then led him and his party to Kharm's tent, which is further ahead along the cobblestone road, past the tents where crusaders are boiling a two large pots of soup over two campfires, possibly to feed all the crusaders here. Judging by the scent of the soup, it must be mixed vegetables and noodles. Several feet ahead of the tents belonging to the crusader cooks, Keherrem and Ralis spotted Kharm arguing with another crusader, a half-elf with shaggy red hair.

"... B-b-b-but Lieutenant Kharm, we are seriously shorthanded! We don't have the numbers to conduct a search party!" the half-elf exclaimed.

"Look around, you dimwit!" Kharm shouted back in his face. "There are fifty able hands with nothing meaningful to do! You mean to tell me you can't send either of them to the forests to search for my nephew?"

"Oloneiros is against that idea," The half elf wiped sweat off his forehead. "She said that splitting us up is not beneficial for our primary objective here-"

"Bah!" Kharm interrupted. "Apparently she hasn't looked around lately. Even Revered Brother Hormorn has more sense than she does! We can't get into the fort and force the rebel refugees to surrender their supplies, the drawbridge is closed, and the back door bridge has been cut down! Our objective is a lost cause unless my nephew or someone returns with the wardstone!"

At this moment, Kherrem is standing several feet behind Kharm, and even though the half elf is focused on Kharm, he never straightened his head up from looking down at Kharm to notice Keherrem standing behind him.

"You mentioned me, Uncle Kharm?" Kherrem called.

Kharm gasped upon hearing his nephew's voice, and then he and the half-elf noticed him. When Kharm laid eyes on Keherrem, a smile formed around his beard.

"Commander Keherrem! Y-y-y-you're alive!" The half-elf exclaimed in shock.

"I... don't... believe it..." Kharm said in a near whisper, his eyes widening so much that all the white parts of his eyeballs became visible.

"Believe it, Uncle Kharm. I'm alive, and I wouldn't have been if it weren't for these generous people behind me," Keherrem said, revealing Ralis and his party next to him.

Ralis stepped forward. "My friends and I took it upon ourselves to find your nephew, because no one else would," he said.

"I see. And who are you?" Kharm asked Ralis curiously.

"My name is Liam Ensler, sir."

The half-elf walked away now, nodding courteously at Keherrem when he walked by him, and Kharm stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Liam, eh? It's a good thing my idiot of a nephew found decent bodyguards to look after him. Still, I am grateful. Here is a token of my appreciation." Kharm handed Ralis a small satchel containing 250 gold pieces.

Ralis opened the satchel and counted the money inside.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Kharm. In return, I think we have found something else that you were looking for." Ralis said, then reached into one of his inventory bags with his left hand and pulled out the wardstone, revealing it to Kharm.

The grizzled dwarf gasped and staggered back a few feet in shock, and Keherrem couldn't stop himself from grinning with excitement when he saw his uncle's mouth drop open.

"Somebody pinch me please. You... you found the wardstone...!" Kharm managed to say, barely a whisper.

"My companions and I wish to join Caelar's cause, that is why we volunteered to rescue your nephew, sir," Ralis stated.

Kharm blinked twice before replying. "But why? Why would you go through so much trouble going beyond and above what was expected of you?"

"Because I lost a friend who fought in the second Dragonspear War. In his honor, I would give my life to prevent a third Dragonspear War if I can," Ralis stated.

Kharm nodded approvingly. "You are a noble man, Liam. Tell you what, I have a mission for you and your party. Meet me over at that white and green striped tent over there in three minutes," Kharm pointed northeast towards the tent on the other side of the cobblestone road closest to the closed gate which leads out to Boareskyr Bridge. "Revered Brother Hormorn and The Barghest will be there to welcome the other new recruits to the crusade. I want you to be there before I give you your mission."

Ralis nodded.

* * *

Three minutes later, Ralis, Corwin and the rest of the party joined the other crusader recruits gathered in front of the green and white tent, which belongs to Revered Brother Hormorn. There are nine new recruits willing to join the crusade, most of them humans. In addition to Ralis and his party, the Crusade has 19 new recruits, not counting M'khiin since she is still hiding in Coogan's rucksack. Revered Brother Hormorn was nowhere to be seen at first, but The Barghest himself did appear, searching for him outside his tent. Corwin stood next to Ralis, watching The Barghest with him, studying his physical appearance as he waited for Hormorn to come out of his tent. The Barghest is a tall and strong half-orc, several inches taller than Dorn Il-Khan, as far as Ralis could tell, he wore bright clean full plate mail armor, and a close helmet with a pivoting visor and bevor to protect his neck. He had the visor lifted so that his face can be revealed. The Barghest's skin color is dark brown, slightly darker than the color of caramel. As for his weapon of choice, The Barghest has a two-handed claymore sword attached to his back, the sword obviously too heavy to hold with one hand judging by how thick the blade is, and a flanged mace attacked to his belt as his secondary weapon.

The Barghest called to Hormorn twice before he finally emerged from his tent. Revered Brother Hormorn wore tan robes with a necklace made out of copper holding the emblem of Caelar's crusade around his neck, the sun cresting the horizon. Hormorn has short black hair, gray eyes, and a mustache but no beard. As soon as he emerged from his tent, he looked at The Barghest for an explanation to why he has been summoned.

"It is time. Hormorn?" The Bargest gestured his left hand towards the recruits lined up outside his tent.

Hormorn finally remembered that today the crusade will be getting a batch of fresh recruits.

"It is, Barghest. Thank you," He nodded courteously at The Barghest, then took a couple steps forward towards the new recruits and slowly spread his arms wide as if to give everyone a hug all at once. "And welcome to you, noble and worthy servants of Caelar."

At this moment, Corwin took the opportinity to turn her head left and right out of caution, simply because she had a gut feeling that there could be someone here who knows Ralis by name, his face or worse, both.

"You know why you are here: to receive the blessings of the gods. To feel their divine light shining within you," Hormorn continued.

He paused to study the reactions of the recruits. Some showed signs that they were eager to listen to more of what he had to say, and others were a little to calm or casual to read their emotions clearly. He had been told about "Liam" and his party by Kharm three minutes ago, and he is clearly aware that they are among the recruits, and he welcomed them for their deeds, rescuing Keherrem and even managing to find the wardstone. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, dropping his spread arms towards the ground slightly.

"You can feel it, can't you? In your hearts, your very souls, you know, you KNOW we walk a righteous path," he said proudly.

 _Since when did righteous paths involve forcefully displacing farmers and settlers from their homes, taking their foods and supplies?_ Corwin thought to herself, feeling her anger begin to boil. She felt Ralis's arm nudge her, and she realized that Ralis is reminding her to keep their emotions in check here, otherwise they might blow their cover.

"That righteous path will take us to the darkest places. The most hideous of devils we will face, but we know no devil shall harm us." Hormorn now raised his arms high towards the sky, as if triumphant over a victory of some kind. Then as he spoke, his body began to slowly brighten up briefly. "We do the will of the gods. We do the will of Caelar Argent. Our victory in this realm and every other is assured!"

The Barghest approached hormorn's side and placed his right hand on his left shoulder.

"Thank you, Hormorn," he said.

Hormorn nodded courteously at The Barghest then reentered his tent.

"And thank you, new servants of the Shining Lady. I welcome you with open arms to our cause. Return to your tasks, secure in the knowledge that we have the favor of the gods," The Barghest said before walking away towards the crusaders still firing arrows and crossbow bolts up at the refugees firing at them from atop the fort walls. Then the new recruits went their separate ways, but Ralis and his party stood where they always stood since before Hormorn's lecture.

"What the hells was that?" Corwin asked Ralis with a puzzled frown.

"I don't even know," Ralis replied.

"That was Revered Brother Hormorn's way of welcoming new faces to Caelar's cause," Kharm said suddenly as he approached them.

"Kharm. You said you have a mission for us?" Ralis said.

Kharm smiled. "Yes, I did. That wardstone you have there will activate the teleport circle on the fort's eastern side. We can't get all of our troops in that way, but you and a small contingent might be able to get through."

As Kharm was explaining what to do, Corwin overheard a woman shouting nearby. She turned her head to the left and from behind a few crusaders having a conversation in the foreground of her point of view, she saw a human woman with short red hair dressed in beige green mage robes arguing with a Red Wizard man named Vichand. The red haired woman is Oloneiros, the woman the half-elf man who spoke with Kharm earlier mentioned.

"It is irritating, I've tried to tell them over and over, but they won't listen!"

"What do you expect me to say to them? That we should divert half of our attention away from Bridgefort? You know that Delgar and the Barghest will hear none of it!" Vichand argued back as they walked into clear view of Corwin without any crusaders around them partially or even fully obscuring her view of them.

Oloneiros looked so frustrated that she looked as if she is fighting the urge to pull her own hair. "They are shortsighted, the lot of them! They can't see the bigger picture here! They don't know how much of a threat the hero of Baldur's Gate is, but I do! Ralis is a greater threat than most of the crusade realizes!"

Corwin gasped softly in shock. How did someone in Caelar's Crusade learn Ralis's name so quickly? It is unlikely that Caelar would waste time spreading knowledge of the identity of the hero of Baldur's Gate when she must return to Dragonspear Castle and await Ralis' arrival.

Vichand scoffed at her. "Really? If he is such a big threat, then why isn't he here? Why isn't he attacking us this very moment?"

"Urrgh, forget it!" Oloneiros snapped.

Corwin, growing more and more nervous about Oloneiros possibly knowing Ralis' physical appearance in complete detail kept a close eye on her as she argued with the Red Wizard.

Ralis nodded to show Kharm he understood the objectives. "That sounds simple enough. Once inside, we could lower the drawbridge, giving the rest of our people access."

"Yes, that, or you can negotiate a truce with them. Will you do it?" Kharm asked Ralis with an expectant smirk.

"I will, sir," Ralis said.

"Good. Move 'em out!" Kharm ordered with an excited smile.

As they walked down the cobblestone road towards the exit leading out of the palisade and to the road that stretches for miles towards Soubar, Ralis looked around at the activity going on around him. Crusaders of many races were either interacting with each other talking or playing different kinds of board games or honing their skills with their weapon of choice, and he couldn't clearly hear any relevant conversation among them that might be worth listening. Corwin kept a close eye on Oloneiros ever since the group walked away from Kharm. She is no longer arguing with Vichand, they've gone their separate ways a few seconds ago, now Oloneiros is fuming alone, trying to vent her anger walking almost parallel from Ralis and the other, moving by tent after tent rather than sticking to the cobblestone road. Beads of sweat formed on Corwin's face, she is extremely worried that sooner or later their paths might cross, and Oloneiros might recognize Ralis, so it is best to tell him what is going on and put some distance between her and them.

She tapped Ralis's left arm and whispered to him: "Ralis, that wizard over there knows who you are!" She pointed over at Oloneiros after she passed by a pure white colored tent, keeping her pointing arm close to her body so that no crusader around them can notice and possibly get suspicious. Ralis looked over towards the direction of where Corwin's index finger of her right hand is pointing, and behind a small crowd of crusade soldiers and a few tents, he saw a woman with short red hair walking parallel from them about seven yards away, grumbling angrily and swearing to herself for reasons he did not know.

"Are you sure?" Ralis whispered to Schael.

Corwin nodded. "I overheard her talking about you! Quick, we need to put some more distance between us and her before she sees you!"

Turning his head to the right and spotting the jail cages made of thick metal bars containing several trolls several yards away from the only exit out of Bridgefort's palisade that they are allowed to leave, Ralis decided to head that direction. Before Glint, Voghiln or anyone else could ask why they were diverting away from the only way out of Bridgefort's palisade, Ralis told them that they needed to take a brief detour. They moved away just in time, because Oloneiros had just begun to move towards the cobblestone road. She was searching for Delgar, hoping to tell him what she thinks about their priorities, so even though Ralis and his group were in her line of sight moving away towards the organized row of cages, she paid them no attention, fortunately. Even if she were paying attention to them, Rasaad, Corwin, Minsc and Jaheira crowded behind Ralis to make sure that she never gets a clear view of him.

The closer they came to the cages containing trolls, the more distant they put between them and the crusader campsite. The trolls noticed them coming and began to plead to them, speaking in Common to the best of their ability, begging them to be released.

"There's no such thing as a good troll, no sir! These trolls may beg and plead with crocodile tears, but they cannot hide the evil that lurks within them! Eh, Boo?" Minsc exclaimed and looked to his hamster friend for confirmation. And as expected, Boo squeaked in agreement.

"You ask your hamster for opinions?" Corwin asked Minsc in confusion.

While Minsc was explaining his bond to Boo, Ralis noticed a wheelbarrow up ahead, about 6 yards away from the cages. He also noticed that there is something inside it. Upon further inspection, he saw a familiar sword and familiar pieces of armor in the wheelbarrow.

"Hey, guys," Ralis called to his group in a slightly high whisper. Everyone crowded around him, looking into the wheelbarrow.

"Minsc, Jaheira, do you recognize these pieces of armor and this sword?" Ralis asked them.

Jaheira frowned in concern. "Yes. It is that half-orc Dorn Il-Khan's body armor and sword. What are they doing here?"

"I don't know..." Ralis muttered in concern, digging into the wheelbarrow for any other items that Dorn's sword and body armor are sitting atop of. His hands found something, and he pulled it out, revealing a tattered journal. Once he opened the journal, he noticed that the pages of the journal are cobbled scraps of leather and parchment, most of it already used. The original author of this journal apparently made notes about supplies and troop movements, but the new author crossed out most of the original author's notes, and added comments in a scrawled, almost incomprehensible hand. And judging by the new author's handwriting and bad grammar in Common, he or she is most definitely not human or elf or even half-elf, most likely a gnoll, a gnoll named Myf since he or she mentions the gnoll god Yeenoghu in the notes.

" _Entry 1_

 _Humans want to pay Myf to kill other humans. That's a good thing, methinks. This camp full of magic humans who want to tell Myf about their gods. Me not care about anyone but Yeenoghu, but let humans talk. Tall officer say his name "Mor-alle" teach Myf to make words on paper. Practice every day, Myf. Myf write lots so far. Now Myf write about me and stupid humans. Give me lots of gold to kill other humans, then take gold back to pack._

 _Entry 6_

 _Leader of humans shine like sun. Her name Kaylar. Kaylar wants to talk trolls, asks me to take trolls. Myf say no! Trolls eat us all! Kaylar put her hand on Myf's shoulder. She say all creatures, gnolls, and stupid humans and trolls, can serve her light. Kaylar's voice nice, but her words make no sense. Myf is not in light. Trolls will eat us._

 _Entry 8_

 _Myf was right and Kaylar was right. How can both be right? Trolls came out of cave ready to eat us all. Then Kaylar talks about her light. Promises gold and food. Some trolls think this is good, like Myf did. Get lots of gold and take it back to pack. Then other trolls yell and say no, stupid. Say Kaylar is making a trap. Trolls fight each other. Try to eat us. Kaylar tries to stop them, says wait listen to me. Trolls don't listen just fight. Myf helps kill a troll and sets it on fire (but steals an arm to eat. Very stringy). Kaylar and other humans put nets and chains around trolls. Now they locked up in camp. Kaylar tells the Brother Hefernan she is sad. She say "my arrow gants ("arrogance") cause many innow sense ("innocent") deaths." Brother say it's not Kaylar's fault but Myf think maybe it is._

 _Entry 20_

 _Big ceremony tonight called the Lightning but there was no lightning. Just a big fire and we all chant. Brother started and we said what he said. People yelled that they saw light. Myf didn't see light. There was light inside though. A fire in Myf's chest. Felt hot and strong. Kaylar came out and her eyes were like fire. Maybe trolls should have said they work for gold._

 _Entry 24_

 _Kaylar marched us to old castle. She came to Myf and put hand on shoulder again. She smells good, but not like prey. Strong. She said Myf I am cownting ("counting") on you to keep trolls in a line. The fire lit up inside again, like the Lightning night. Me made sure trolls all walked very straight. None eat us. We stopped to camp and Kaylar said good job Myf. Pack never says good job Myf._

 _Entry 30_

 _On way to castle we pass by Myf's home. Pack hides in hills. Pockets are full of gold but me not go to pack. They don't have fire inside and if Myf left Kaylar would be sad. Who look after trolls? Myf has important job here. Myf not let Kaylar down."_

After reading the journal, Ralis slowly shook his head in denial and astonishment. "Unbelievable. It's just unbelievable. How did she do it?" he said.

"What?" Corwin asked.

"According to this journal, Caelar entrusted a gnoll named Myf to look after these imprisoned trolls. From my experience with gnolls, they show no devotion or loyalty to anyone, not even to a human, they are too bloodthirsty to be that way. But somehow, Caelar managed to inspire devotion and unwavering loyalty to her cause in a gnoll who wrote this journal."

"Huh? No way," Coogan said.

"Gnolls? The evil dog men with the rotten smell? Minsc is confused three ways to a tenday," Minsc moaned, placing both hands on his head as if he actually has a headache.

"I seriously underestimated Caelar Argent. If she is able to inspire loyalty in evil creatures like gnolls, there's no telling how many unusual creatures she has recruited to her cause," Ralis said.

"Free us! Free us!" One of the trolls exclaimed.

"Ignore the trolls. You're nothing but meat to them. I, however, have more to offer- if you release me," a familiar gruff half-orcish masculine voice said.

Ralis frowned, recognizing the voice and ran towards the row of cages leaving the others behind with the wheelbarrow, passing by each cage containing a troll until he found the third cage to his left containing someone he hasn't seen in months.

"Dorn Il-Khan. I never thought I'd see you caged. What happened?" Ralis asked, crossing his arms and smiling.

Dorn blinked twice and looked at Ralis in surprise briefly. "Ralis. What are you doing here-? No, I don't care. Open the cage. Free me."

"And us. Let us out too!" One of the trolls next to Dorn's cage exclaimed.

"Silence vermin. Sentient creatures are talking," Dorn snapped at the troll while casting a serious death stare at him, securing his silence. Then he turned his attention to Ralis. "What are you waiting for, Ralis? Release me!"

Ralis couldn't help wondering how did the pawn of Ur-Gothoz end up getting captured by Caelar's crusaders. This man broke out of a prison in Luskan. What's keeping him from breaking out of this cage? Must be a juicy story.

"Perhaps I will- after you tell me how you came to be in that cage to begin with," Ralis said, arms still crossed, and at that moment, the rest of his party joined by his side, Jaheira looking none too happy to see Dorn again.

"I was captured while attempting to slay the Revered Brother Hormorn, priest of Caelar. I did not anticipate the one they call The Barghest interfering with my mission," Dorn explained, gripping both of his hands on the bars, but made no attempt to pull them apart.

"What can you tell me about The Barghest?" Ralis asked.

"He commands the crusaders stationed here. A powerful fighter. He will make a worthy sacrifice to my patron, Ur-Gothoz. I have told you everything. Now, release me," Dorn urged.

"Not now, Dorn. If the crusaders see me leaving this place with you, they will attack us. I'll come back later and free you," Ralis said.

Dorn frowned in disdain. "You just expect me to trust you blindly?" He asked.

Ralis winked at him. "It's all you can do. I'll be back, but don't worry, when I come back, the fun begins." He winked again, then signaled his party to follow him.

They exited the Bridgefort palisade and made their way back to the back entrance to Bridgefort. They followed the eastern side of Birdgefort's moat until the palisade walls ended giving Ralis and his party an unobscured view of the fort's structure. Across the 17 foot wide moat, the fort walls of Bridgefort stand tall and erect, protecting the refugees hiding from Caelar's crusaders inside, and if Jaheira is right, Khalid should still be in there if nothing bad happened to him. Fortunately the refugees defending the fort are busy raining arrows and crossbow bolts down at the crusaders within the palisade, because if they noticed Ralis and his party walking alongside the eastern side of the moat, they would likely be taking potshots at them too, believing them to be hired mercenaries of the crusaders. Corwin couldn't help admiring the fort walls of Bridgefort, though the fort is obviously old and decrepit, it is still sturdy.

"Look at how high that wall is. Even if we manage to get across this moat, a ladder wouldn't be enough to climb those walls," she pointed out.

Up ahead, they saw the teleport circle Kharm mentioned near the broken bridge that would have taken them into Bridgefort's back door. The teleportation circle itself is made out of gray stones lined up perfectly forming the outline of the circle. The sticks and stones within the circle formed a triangle shape, making the circle look ritualistic in a certain way. Dynaheir estimated that judging by how large the circle is, only nine people or less can stand inside the circle with the person holding the wardstone. That means Ralis, Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira, Voghiln, Rasaad, Glint, Corwin and Coogan can stand within the circle, but M'khiin must stay inside the rucksack otherwise she must get left behind when the wardstone is used.

"Ach, I need rest. And I need a drink. But mostly to rest," Voghiln said.

"Don't worry, Voghiln. I'm sure they got some sweet mead for you to drink in there," Ralis assured him.

"Are we certain that this circle will be able to bring us all into Bridgefort?" Rasaad asked with uncertainty.

"We won't know lest we try and find out," Dynaheir said.

Ralis stepped into the circle first, then Jaheira, Voghiln, Rasaad, Minsc, Dynaheir, Coogan and Corwin. Then they waited for something to happen. After a few minutes of silence...

"What now?" Corwin asked Ralis.

"Uh, hold on a minute..." Ralis pulled the wardstone out of his item bag and held it in the palm of his right hand, looking at it, expecting it to glow or something. "... I don't know what I should do with it..." He admitted.

Coogan peered down at the ground despite the fact that Rasaad and Voghiln crowded in front of her and noticed on the ground in the center of the triangle made of sticks within the outline of the circle they are in, there is another circle, much smaller within the triangle, and she had an idea.

"Ralis, put the wardstone down in that circle in the center," she instructed.

Ralis looked down between his legs and noticed the small circle within the triangle and felt like slapping himself in the face for not noticing it earlier. Being in the center, he crouched down as much as he could without causing his posterior to bump anyone out of the circle and placed the wardstone in the center of the circle within the triangle. Then suddenly, the entire teleportation circle glowed with arcane energy in response to the wardstone's presence. Then the world around Ralis and his party turned bright white as Bridgefort to the left and the forests to their right disappeared into whiteness.

* * *

Then a few seconds later, a new environment materialized into view. They appeared to be in some kind of large room, a cafeteria of some kind, crowded with people walking around or sitting at tables eating soup and such. But their activities came to a sudden halt when Ralis and his party teleported into the room.

"What the...?" Corwin looked around in confusion.

"It worked. We're inside," Glint smiled.

Ralis looked down and noticed that they are standing within a circle similar to the one outside, the only difference is this one had no triangle within its outline, only the wardstone itself at the center. Before any of them could react, several refugees wearing old body armor accosted them, pointing their weapons at them. Some were armed with swords, others had crossbows or bows and arrows.

"Stay where you are and don't move!" A man armed with a heavy crossbow demanded.

Ralis held his hands up. "Whoa-whoa-whoa! No need for hostility, friends! We are not here to harm you!" He reasoned, but the armed refugees never let their guard down, not even for a split second.

"We've heard that before. How do we know that you're not with the crusaders out there?" The crossbowman asked skeptically.

"Khalid! Come down here! We have company!" One of the armed refugees turned his face towards the direction of the stairs behind them and called out.

Then a few seconds later, Khalid himself came descending down the stairs into the cafeteria to see what the ruckus is about. He hasn't changed at all these past several months.

"What is this? Adirran, w-w-w-what's going on-?" His voice trailed off as soon as his eyes focused on Ralis. "Wait- Ralis? Is t-t-t-that you?"

"'Tis me, Khalid. How have you been, you stuttering half-elven bean?" Ralis grinned.

Khalid gently moved his way past his armed refugee guards and gave Ralis a friendly handshake.

"My f-friend! 'Tis good to see you!" He exclaimed.

"Khalid! I am so glad to see you alive!" Jahiera exclaimed from behind Ralis and the others.

"Jaheira...? Dear, is that you?" Khalid blinked in shock.

Jaheira rudely brushed past her companions and embraced Khalid in a hug.

"Ohhh-h-h, Jaheira, dear! I-I-I've been w-worried sick about you for the past few days!" He exclaimed as Jaheira hugged him tightly, and suddenly, their lips made contact.

Adirran and the other refugee guard lowered their weapons, taking in the hint that Khalid knows some or at least a few of these strangers. Khalid and Jaheira kissed for twenty seconds before they finally let their lips part so they can speak to each other.

"I've been waiting three tendays to do that to you," Jaheira smirked proudly.

Khalid chuckled then glanced over at Adirran and the other guards. "Oh, I'm sure you have, dear," he said, then Jaheira released him.

"Thank you, Ralis, for helping my wife reunite with me. All of you, thank you," Khalid said with gratitude.

"It is no problem, friend Khalid," Rasaad said.

Khalid blinked in surprise. "Rasaad? You're here too? I'm surprised to see that you've come all this way north."

Ralis grinned, happy to see that the reunion is going so well.

"As you can see, Kahlid, I've reunited with some familiar faces, and met some new ones. Khalid, allow me to introduce you to Captain Schael Corwin of the Flaming Fist, Voghiln, Glint, Coogan and... Hey, where's M'khiin?" Ralis asked, noticing that M'khiin isn't standing among his party.

Coogan allowed M'khiin to climb out of her rucksack, and as soon as M'khiin appeared, everyone screamed: "Goblin!" in shock and horror. "Kill the wretched thing!" Someone else exclaimed.

"HEY HEY!" Ralis shouted at the top of his lungs to get everyone to calm down before everyone armed with a weapon starts to attack, and everyone calmed down, lapsing into silence. "The goblin is with me! She won't harm anyone! I swear my life on it!"

"Can you be so sure, Ralis? Do you remember how many goblins we have fought in the past?" Khalid asked skeptically.

"I remember, but M'khiin is not like any other goblin we have met. Corwin, Dynaheir, Minsc and Safana can vouch for me," Ralis said.

Corwin stepped forward.

"He is right. M'khiin is... an unorthodox goblin," she said.

Then Dynaheir stepped up alongside Corwin.

"'Tis goblin, though stale and in serious need for a bath, has been thus far very reasonable and harmless," she said.

"Huh. I've been called worse," M'khiin commented.

"I agree with Corwin. Though the goblin smells like three week old smelly boots, she has never harmed a hair on anything that is good. She has been kicking evil butts ever since we left Baldur's Gate!" Minsc exclaimed, and Boo on his left shoulder squeaked in agreement.

Corwin facepalmed her face into her right hand. "There he goes with the posterior metaphors..." She groaned.

Safana said nothing, she just walked over to the nearest chair and sat down.

"But there is one thing I must know. Why are all of you here? Do you have a purpose for coming here?" Khalid asked.

"I do. I am accompanied by an army of Flaming Fist troops from Baldur's Gate. We're to free Bridgefort, then move on to Dragonspear Castle," Ralis explained.

Khalid smiled. "Th-that is excellent news. We are almost at the end of our r-resources, and your help will be invaluable. L-let me tell you what happened."

Before Khalid began the story, Adirran and the other refugee guards offered Ralis and his party all the unoccupied chairs they could find. They didn't give M'khiin a chair to sit on, but it didn't matter to her, as she expected treatment like this from people who are more used to attacking a goblin than interacting peacefully with one, though it is debatable that maybe the guards couldn't find an empty chair for M'khiin to sit on, but it is more likely that the former is true more so than the latter. Then, Khalid, sitting in his own chair, began to tell his story of how he and Jaheira came to Bridgefort and got separated.

"A few months ago, Jaheira and I came north to find a p-peaceful place to spend time together," Khalid began.

"I chose to stay in Bridgefort for a while because it is a place that seems the most unlikely to attract large numbers of tourists and adventurers," Jaheira interjected.

Khalid slowly nodded his head in agreement. "... Y-yes. We stayed in Bridgefort for two months, enjoying our peaceful vacation until the crusade arrived. When the crusaders hit Bridgefort, we were separated. since I have the most combat experience, I took command here," he explained.

"And you were trapped inside?" Ralis asked, wondering if Jaheira and Voghiln were fighting the crusade outside Bridgefort while Khalid and the others were inside this fort.

"Ind-deed. I found myself at the helm of a fast-sinking ship, if you know what I mean. We were instantly besieged and t-trapped inside," Khalid said sullenly, slumping down in his chair slightly, his depressed eyes showing telltale signs that he has seen many people brave in heart but inexperienced in combat try to fight the crusaders but fell at their weapons.

"But why are the crusaders attacking you in the first place? Fighting innocent people isn't their usual style, it goes against Caelar's moral code," Corwin said.

"The crusaders seek the supplies we hold here," Khalid confirmed. "Our situation is this: Beyond the closed drawbridge, we have scores of crusaders who have barricaded Boareskyr Bridge. They call their leader the Barghest."

"We've heard of him. A veteran of the Dragonspear Wars and a dangerous warrior," Corwin said.

"With the Flaming Fist company you brought, we might stand a chance in a direct fight," Khalid replied hopefully, straightening his sitting position on his chair.

"Are you sure about that?" Ralis asked with caution.

Khalid blinked twice, then frowned in serious consideration over the idea. "Well... I don't know, honestly. Being o-optimistic is better than being p-p-pessimistic."

"We can't be blindly optimistic or pessimistic here. Our decisions affect the lives of every person here in Bridgefort. We need to consider our course of action carefully before we act," Ralis said.

Corwin looked over at Ralis and smiled, pleased to see that the child of Bhaal has a rational, calculating mind.

"I value your opinion, Ralis. Take a look around the fort and see what we have to d-d-deal with. Then tell me what course of action you recommend," Khalid said.

"Thank you, Khalid. Where shall we begin our inspection?" Corwin asked.

"S-start with the wizard Wynan Hess. You should find him in one of the rooms at the rear of the f-f-fort. He knows the state of our defenses. Also, talk to Jegg Hillcarver, our smith. She can tell you about our supplies," Khalid replied.

"Noted. I will seek out Hess and Hillcarver immediately," Ralis said.

Khalid exhaled a sigh of relief. "Th-thank you, Ralis. Fate has smiled upon us by sending you here."

Then Ralis stood up out of his chair ,rubbing his hands together.

"All right," he began, speaking to his party. "Corwin, M'khiin, Glint and I are going to explore the fort. The rest of you rest up."

"Finally, he lets us take a break!" Safana raised her arms up towards the ceiling in relief.

"Good idea!" Glint exclaimed enthusiastically as he hopped out of his chair. "I need to find Uncle Hoach if he is here."

"Come on. We might find him if we look around," Ralis said, gesturing to Glint to follow him.

"I will stay here with Khalid for a while. We have... lots of catching up to do," Jaheira said.

Ralis chuckled as he walked away.

Voghiln stood up out of his chair as well. "Don't mind me, I'll just be searching for a drink, ja," he said aloud. "And a single woman," he added, clearly disappointed that Jaheira is happily married.

* * *

As Ralis, Corwin, Glint and M'khiin moved through the cafeteria, they sensed dozens of eyes watching them warily. They also heard barely audible whispers like:

"Who are they? Where did they come from?"

"I don't trust them. They could be mercenaries hired by the crusaders."

"They have a goblin with them? Are they mad?"

Glint looked around, trying to find his uncle among the groups of people. When they were halfway to reaching the exit away from the stairs where Khalid came from when they arrived, Glint saw a gnome sitting at a table by himself. He wore a green tunic and his facial hair is dark blue.

"Uncle Hoach, is that you?" Glint called.

The gnome looked up in surprise. "Ah-ya. Reckon it is at that," He nodded, then got a good look at Glint as he approached. "How ya doin' nephew?"

"So this is your uncle, Glint?" Ralis asked.

"Yeah. Ralis, this is my uncle Hoach Randymonk. Uncle, this is Ralis, hero of Baldur's Gate," Glint introduced them.

Hoach smiled and took a quick sip of his ale. "Is he now. Isn't that a thing?" He asked with an amused chuckle.

"Yes, though I'm not exactly sure what kind of thing it is. Good to meet you, Hoach," Ralis said, nodding courteously.

"Pshaw," Hoach scoffed, lifting his legs up, resting them on the table then crossing his right leg over his left, getting more relaxed. "Ain't no great thing meetin' someone like me. Still 'n all, I'm pleased t' make your acquaintance. Now if you'll excuse me, I got some work to do."

"What kind of work do you do, Hoach?" Ralis asked curiously.

"He's one of the greatest cobblers this side of Waterdeep," Glint proudly told Ralis, then turned his attention to Hoach, coming up next to him and pulling up a chair to sit next to him. "How have you been, Uncle? Mum's worried about you."

Hoach shook his head indifferently with a smug smile. "Aw, y'r mother just like t' worry, that's all. I'm stuck in this fort n' all, but there's plenty got i worse than me. I'm fine. You tell y'r mother that, when ya get the chance."

"I'll do that Uncle Hoach. And I'll come back and talk to you again soon, if I get the chance," glint said, climbing out of his chair.

ralis waved goodbye at Hoach before he and the others continued walking towards the exit to the back hallways of the fort.

Among the whispers and indistinct conversation around him, Ralis heard a voice loud and clear exclaim: "SHUT UP."

Finding the voice familiar, Ralis turned his head left and right, scanning the room for the source of the voice. Up ahead, he caught sight of a woman with pink hair heading out of the cafeteria at the other end of the room away from the stairs where Khalid came from earlier.

"Is that...?" Ralis whispered with a confused frown when the pink haired woman disappeared down the hallway not far from the cafeteria's exit.

"Who did you see?" Corwin asked.

"I think I saw Neera. She's the only woman I know who has pink hair, but let's go make sure," Ralis replied.

He hurried towards the exit he saw Neera leave, Corwin, Glint and M'khiin followed close behind him, and not far behind them, in the second row of tables, Voghiln found a woman he fancied, a mature adult Damaran woman with semi short black hair, and started a conversation with her.

"Ho ho, how does the day fare thee, oh beauteous one? My name is Voghiln. What is your name, hmm?"

The woman rolled her eyes in disgust. "Back off, loser. Never gonna happen." Then she stood up and walked away.

"Ho ho! Playing hard to get, eh? Very well, I will play! Voghiln knows this game all to well!" He called as he followed the woman across the cafeteria despite her pleas to leave her alone.

Safana, watching the whole event unfold buried her face into her hands, surprised and depressed to see that there is another man who thinks and acts with manhood just like Coran. "Gods help me. He is just like Coran..." Safana moaned.

Meanwhile Ralis, Corwin, glint and M'khiin followed the woman that he thinks is Neera out of the cafeteria, took a left at a "t" junction hallway and followed her into a part of the fort where the prison cells are, every door is rusty and wide open. They eventually found Neera in one of the open prison cells talking to herself, her back turned on them.

"NO, SHUT UP, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK, NOBODY CARES," Neera exclaimed angrily to no one in particular.

"Uh... Neera?" Ralis called, inching towards her cautiously.

"WHAT?" Neera abruptly turned around, startling Ralis. She had an angry frown on her face at first, but she changed her expression once she realized she yelled at a concerned person who doesn't deserve to be yelled at.

"Uh, I mean- hello! Hi!" She said with a friendly smile.

"Hello," Ralis responded, wondering if Neera remembers him.

Then at that moment, Neera's eyebrows arched down towards the middle of her eyes not in anger but in puzzlement, possibly because she finds this man in front of her familiar.

"Wait a second. I know that voice- NO, NOT YOURS, THE NEW ONE- yours," Neera said, pointing at Ralis at the end of her statement.

Ralis shook his head in disbelief. "Of course you know me. Ralis. You helped me deal with the iron crisis..."

Neera blinked in surprise. "You!? Gods, I hardly recognized you." She approached Ralis and gave him a hug. "What are are you doing here? How did you get in here, for that matter?"

"Oh, with the help of a wardstone. See, I came from Baldur's Gate with a large force of Flaming Fist soldiers less than a day south from here. This siege won't last much longer. Would you like to join me once again and help break it?" Ralis replied.

"Does that mean you can help me get out of this bloody fort? Yes? Count me in," Neera said with a relieved smile.

"Great. Now let's get out of here, this place stinks," Ralis said, eager to leave the jail cells.

"Oh, uh, Neera, allow me to introduce you to Schael Corwin of the Flaming Fist. And this is Glint, and M'khiin." Ralis added.

"Hiya! Pleasure to meet you all. NO, I'M NOT GOING TO INTRODUCE YOU, SO SHUT UP AND GO HIDE IN SOME CORNER LIKE THE NOBODY THAT YOU ARE," Neera said.

M'khiin frowned up at Neera in concern. "Did you hit your head against the wall recently? What's wrong with you?"

Neera said nothing in reply and Glint simply snickered. As they retraced their steps down the hallway, Ralis couldn't help wondering why Neera was talking to herself recently. Has her mental health been slowly degenerating ever since she learned that Adoy couldn't help her with her wild magic? Then, as if on cue or as if Neera had gained the ability to read minds, she tapped Ralis's right shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey, you. How are you doin'? YES I'M ASKING, JUST GIVE ME A SECOND, WILL YOU PLEASE? I don't suppose you happen to have found any belladonna on your travels by any chance?" Neera asked.

"Nope, can't say I have," Ralis shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, how about a feather from a planetar's wing?" Neera asked with this look of growing desperation in her eyes.

Planetars are a species of angels that have either blue or green colored skin with large, beautiful white wings. Both the men and women of this race are bald yet beautiful, generally being nine feet tall and weighing 500 lbs. Ralis knew very little about these angels, all he knows is that finding one in this plane of existence is astronomically impossible, planetars only live in the celestial planes of existence.

"Are you kidding?" Ralis asked, raising his left eyebrow incredulously. "Good luck finding that."

"What about a leg from a seven legged spider?" Neera asked.

"I don't..." Ralis began to say, but he suddenly remembered something, turning his gaze slowly towards M'khiin.

"What? Why are all of you looking at me?" M'khiin asked, feeling uncomfortable with Ralis, Neera, Corwin and Glint looking at her.

"Remember that spider you saved me from before? I seem to remember you eating one of its legs, and you tore off another one of its legs and kept it in your bag," Ralis stated.

"What? Oh, that's right, I nearly forgot about that." M'khiin reached into her pocket, pulled out the spider leg she was going to eat later and gave it to Neera.

Neera took the spider leg and placed it in her bag. "What about a potion of perception?" She asked.

Ralis checked his potion bag. "Hmm... let's see..." he muttered as he rummaged through dozens of potions he forgotten that he had, potions that he has had ever since the iron crisis. "Ah! Here we go!" Ralis pulled it out and gave it to Neera.

She smiled and placed it inside her bag. "Finally- and I can't believe I am saying this, but it's on the list- the juice of one turnip."

"Huh?" Corwin scratched her head in confusion, and so did Ralis. Corwin looked over at him, he looked over at her for three seconds, then turned his gaze back towards Neera.

"What would I be doing with turnip juice?" He asked her.

"I dunno," Neera shrugged casually. "What would anyone be doing with turnip juice? Other than making a potion, I guess. Anyway, thank you so much, Ralis! At this rate, I won't be driven completely mad before I get rid of- I mean, before I free the voice in my head."

"Why do you need all of these potion ingredients?" Ralis asked.

"Because I need this special potion to get Adoy's stupid-" Suddenly Neera looked up at the ceiling with an annoyed angry frown. "YEAH, I SAID STUPID! YOU DON'T LIKE IT? FEEL FREE TO LEAVE-" she calmed down and focused on talking to Ralis. "- voice out of my head."

"Huh? Adoy is with you?" Ralis asked.

"Yeah. He somehow got inside my head, or at least his voice, and has been in there ever since we met him during the iron crisis. Only I can hear his voice somehow, and he has been pestering me ever since we split up after that parade a couple months ago," Neera nodded.

"Who is Adoy?" Glint pressed.

"A wild mage like Neera. She thought he could help her understand how to control wild magic, but he couldn't help her," Ralis explained.

"Yeah. And in a sudden twist of irony, he has now become a pain in my -I KNOW YOU ARE ACTUALLY IN MY HEAD, GET OUTTA THERE! MY BRAIN ISN'T RENT FREE, YOU KNOW!"

"Oookay, let's get going before this weirdness makes my head start spinning," Ralis said, feeling a bit lightheaded from hearing Neera yell so much.


	11. Chapter 11 Battle For Bridgefort part 2

_**"In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker."**_

 _ **-Plutarch**_

* * *

They didn't head back to the cafeteria room of the fort, they instead headed down the hall in the opposite direction from where they came, where prisoners of the fort used to be kept. Eventually they found the room where the blacksmiths of the fort do their work. There, they found two dwarves wearing dirty blacksmith aprons and gloves working at the forge, a man and woman. The man dwarf is known as Thurm Hillcarver, around the average height for a dwarf but has thick muscular arms coated with beads of sweat from working near the furnace. The most distinguishable feature about him is his long black beard. It is so long, both ends of his beard are divided and tied at the ends with rubber bands, giving his beard the shape of an inverted "V". His wife, Jegg Hillcarver isn't as muscular as her husband but still looks very physically fit as a dwarf woman can possibly get. She has square jaws and her brown hair is styled into a long ponytail.

"Uh, hello? Are you two the blacksmiths here? I'm here to inspect your supplies," Ralis called, entering the room and feeling the heat from the furnace touch his face even though he wasn't very close to it.

Thurm was too busy shaping the blade of a short sword, slamming his hammer down on the blade resting on the flat surface of the anvil, while Jegg is at the first stages of welding metal pieces, cleaning them using a wire brush. She turned her attention to Ralis, Corwin, Neera, Glint and M'khiin not long after being partially finished with cleaning the second piece of metal. Before she could say hello, however, she recoiled in shock upon seeing M'khiin.

"Gah! Goblin!" She exclaimed.

Hearing Jegg say that, Thurm immediately stopped shaping the sword and looked over at the newcomers in curiosity.

"It's all right, it's all right. She's with me. I'm Ralis. I'm a friend," Ralis assured Jegg.

She raised an eyebrow skeptically and crossed her arms. "Friends with a goblin and here to help? Pull the other one, friend. What do you want?"

"I'm a friend of Khalid. He sent us to talk to you about the fort's supplies," Ralis explained.

"Hmph. Did he now?" Thurm asked, sizing up Ralis while walking around him clockwise, then he stopped in front of him. "Well then, any friend of Khalid is a friend of mine. Not sure about the goblin, though. Besides, she reeks," he declared, then walked away back to the anvil to continue his work.

"Huh. So that's where that smell is coming from," Neera siad, looking down at M'khiin.

"I hate to disappoint you, but I am not too fond of baths," M'khiin said.

Jegg nodded slowly. "Right. Well, we got plenty of food down here. Over there in that room is food storage-" she said pointing at the door to the northwestern corner of the room not far left from the forge. "- we have enough food to last us for another two months, as well as sundries- blankets, lamp oil, that sort of thing. I can see why the crusade wants their mitts on it. Would let 'em run more soldiers onto the field."

"Hold on. So if we surrendered to the crusade and give them what they want, we'd see more soldiers up at Dragonspear Castle?" Ralis asked, sensing that surrendering to the crusade and letting them have the supplies is not a wise option.

"Aye," Jegg nodded. "If the crusade gets in here, we'd be better off destroying the supplies than letting them have it."

"I'll not let the crusade in here," Ralis shook his head.

Jegg couldn't help smiling. "I hear that. I'm just talking about IFs here. But if you change your mind, if you persuade the crusade to let us go, I'll see to it the perishables are destroyed. We'll leave some crates, make it look good, but they won't be happy with their haul."

"Heh. That's an understatement. They'll _really_ be ticked off like a dog with fleas," Thurm chuckled, then continued hitting his hammer against the blade, causing it to glow more and more red with heat.

"I don't plan on surrendering, but I'll keep this in mind. Thank you," Ralis said, then he turned around to leave, Corwin, M'khiin, Glint and Neera following behind him.

"Go on then. We've got work to do," Jegg said.

When Corwin was the last person out of the room, she turned around and called to the Hillcarvers: "One more thing. Where do we find Wynan Hess?"

"The mage?" Thurm answered, looking up towards Corwin after holding his hammer up in midair. "You'll find him in the barracks, the rooms further back." Then he continued hammering the sword blade resting on the anvil.

"Thanks," Corwin nodded gratefully then broke into a fast walk to catch up with the others.

The barracks wasn't hard for them to find, all they had to do is go down corridors that take them further away from the cafeteria. They found Wynan Hess himself doing something with magic spells, possibly shielding the entire fort with wards and arcane magic. He had his back turned, so he didn't notice Ralis and the others come in, he is too busy casting spells that preserve the strength of the fort's magical protection. Though the crusaders don't have catapults to launch large projectiles at the fort, they have mages, and who knows what surprises they have cooked up. Corwin recalled in Corporal Bence Duncan's report that he has heard of this mage, Wynan Hess, but never had the chance to meet him in person. Though Duncan has never met this man during his scouting expedition months ago because Hess wasn't present at Bridgefort on the day when Duncan and his scouts visited the fort, Duncan stated that he has heard that this mage is a frequent visitor to Bridgefort, trading supplies and selling his spellcasting services. And now he is spending his time here using his spells to defend Bridgefort. Ralis didn't want to disturb Hess, but he had no choice.

"Uh... hello?" He called to the mage haltingly.

Wynan heard Ralis, but he never turned around to face him. "Go away! I'm busy here!" He snapped, then waved his arms around as multicolored arcane energies circled his body up and down several times then spiraled up towards the ceiling and disappeared through the stone.

"You are Wynan Hess, are you not? Khalid told me to seek you out regarding the fort's defenses," Ralis told him without doubt or hesitation in his tone this time.

Wynan had both of his arms raised towards the ceiling, and he stopped briefly for a second, considering whether to tell Ralis to go away again, or tell him what he wants to know. In the end, he chose the latter. Wynan sighed, lowered his arms and turned to face the newcomers.

"Oh, fine. Defenses, what we've got...?" He paused, scratching his hairless chin in thought. "Not much. A few fighters, some mercenaries and guards. Most here are travelers trapped inside when the crusade crossed the Winding Water. I maintain the wards that protect us from the crusade's siege weapons. They- wait."

Everyone fell silent with Wynan, waiting to hear what interrupted his conversation with Ralis. They heard nothing at first, but they soon realized that it is not what Wynan heard, but what he sensed. Somehow Wynan sensed the telltale sign that a wizard allied with the crusade is weakening the wards that protect the fort, and that could mean they are preparing to use their siege weapons.

"Another wizard is fighting me. I must concentrate. I need to-" Wynan quickly said with urgency as he prepared to do the arm gestures required to re-energize the wards, but he acted too late, and he soon found out.

All of a sudden, the impact tremor of something large and hard as a rock hitting the fort caused Ralis, Wynan and the others to get rocked off their feet, they saw the entire room vibrate, and they clearly heard the sound of something big crashing into the ceiling somewhere in the fort, and rubble and debris crashing down!

"Damn it!" Wynan cursed, struggling to get back up to his feet, and once he did, he ran out the room shouting "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" Ralis and the others followed him out of the room and he led them to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria is in complete chaos, and nearly shrouded by a thick smokescreen from the collapsed debris. The travelers and refugees gathered in there are panicking and screaming as if the world is coming to an end soon, but none of Ralis's companions who were left behind with Khalid were injured or killed. In the center of the cafeteria, debris from the ceiling has collapsed on one of the tables, claiming the lives of three people, whose arms and/or legs can be seen protruding from the pile of debris.

"What the hell happened here?!" One of the Bridgefort guards exclaimed among the screaming crowd of panicking people trying to move to the edges of the cafeteria, fearing that another projectile from the crusade's siege weapons might strike again.

A man with mottled black hair named Zari is digging through the debris coughing the smoke he inhaled, hoping that at least one of the people pinned by the debris is alive. He froze when he recognized a topaz ring worn on the finger of a feminine arm sticking out of the debris pile.

"It's Lexa...!" He gasped in shock. "Help! Someone help Lexa! Please!" He shouted.

"She's beyond our help, son," an older man named Rayler came up to Zari's side and told him.

Wynan's shoulders sagged in defeat, blaming himself for the deaths of these three unlucky souls. Khalid and the other guards worked together and Ralis and some of his party helped as well to pull the debris off the victims. Soon the three deceased people could be identified, three humans, two women, one man, their names are Kendra, Lexa and Herdrin. By this moment, the travelers and refugees calmed down, but some of them were sobbing, others were cursing the crusade. Zari, who had become close friends with Lexa in the past month, couldn't process the fact that his friend is no longer among the living, it is too painful for him to take in, he collapsed on his knees.

"How could this have happened? The fort is warded!" Zari wailed.

"I agree," Rayler nodded at Zari, then turned his scowl of contempt towards Wynan as the smoke form the debris cleared. "What's going on, Hess? You were supposed to protect us from this sort of attack!"

"And I did, for as long as I could," Wynan said in defense. "The crusade has mages too, you know. I couldn't maintain the redblooding wards- you'd have done no better!" He exclaimed angrily.

Rayler had nothing to say then. He is no mage, just a traveling mercenary from Iraebor who got caught up in this crusade issue on his way to Neverwinter to meet an old friend who works at the Moonstone Mask.

"The blame should go to me, I am the one who broke your concentration," Ralis said to Hess and Rayler.

"In truth, I probably couldn't have held the shield much longer anyway. The longer this mess lasts, the weaker I grow."

"So what should we do?" Corwin asked Wynan and Rayler, referring to the bodies.

"There's nothing to be done about it now," Wynan said, looking up at the hole in the ceiling.

Ralis examined the ceiling too, and before he could make a comment about it, he suddenly felt sick. He suddenly felt this feeling that some invisible force is wringing out his stomach like a wet towel, and he had a mild headache to go along with it. And it wasn't him that felt this way, everyone in the cafeteria did.

"I feel sick... something is happening," Ralis groaned.

""What- what's happening...? I- uhhhh..." Zari groaned, slowly collapsing to the floor and curling up in a fetal position, feeling severely sick like everyone else.

Then almost suddenly everyone in the cafeteria moaned and complained. Wynan too felt sick, but not as badly as everyone else, all he had is a severe headache, but feeling the throbbing pain in his head felt far from comfortable. He looked over at the debris he and everyone else moved aside to uncover Lexa, Kendra and Herdrin's bodies, and he noticed that among the debris that used to be parts of the ceiling, there is a new stone he didn't recognize. It is are dark gray, almost as big as a cannonball, and glowing very brightly. Raising an eyebrow in concern, Wynan examined the stones, picking it up with one hand, and he examined it, noticing that this stone and the others are magically enchanted with symbols carved on it in a bright violet color. Whatever enchantment has been embedded into this stone, it is making everyone inside the fort feel as if they eaten some rotten foods. The crusade must have fired the stone into the fort using one of the siege weapons to weaken the refugees from the inside since they can't get inside the fort. The crusaders have decided to put the refugees in a desperate situation where they have only two choices: surrender and give up all their supplies, or let the magical stone kill them slowly.

"Its this glowing stone, there's an unnatural magical aura surrounding it," Wynan announced.

"That's what is making us feel like we ate something rotten?" Neera asked.

"How can we stop this?" Ralis asked the mage.

"The negative energy contained in the stone will spread, weakening all those in Bridgefort's walls who it doesn't kill outright. If I had the original spellcaster's scroll, I might be able to terminate the enchantment," Wynan explained, still holding the stone with both hands.

Rayler approached Ralis, his face stoll grimacing in pain, and said: "You are the only outsider the crusaders apparently trusts. You've got to get into the crusade camp and find that scroll. Without it, Bridgefort will surely fall."

"I won't allow that to happen. You can count on me to get that scroll," Ralis promised, trying to endure the headache and stomach churning pain like Rayler and everyone else in the cafeteria.

"While I will attempt to get the scroll AND stay alive. Not necessarily in that order," Glint chimed in.

"There's no time to waste- I can feel the stone's magic moving through my body even as we speak. Go, get the scroll- save us all." Rayler urged.

Ralis moved past the spot where the debris used to be piled atop Kendra, Lexa and Herdrin's bodies and headed over to the circle of stones where the wardstone brought them in, and stood in the center, waiting for the wardstone to activate.

"Find the scroll and return to me as quickly as you can," Wynan said seconds before the wardstone teleported Ralis out of Bridgefort and back to the circle outside the fort near the broken bridge leading to the fort's back door.

* * *

While heading towards the palisade that protects the drawbridge and the crusaders camped within, Ralis noticed that he still feels a bit drained and sick, but not as badly as he was when he was near that dark magical stone. When he reached the door guarded by the crusader sergeant and some of her soldiers, they almost immediately let Ralis in as soon as they recognized him. When Ralis stepped inside, the person he intended on searching for is Delgar Munsch, since he is a high ranking officer among the crusaders. It would be a better idea to speak to the Barghest, but chances are he might not be very reasonable since he is a half-orc. Ralis walked past more than a dozen crusaders, searching for Delgar or Kharm, but also keeping a close eye out for Oloneiros.

"Hey friend, you don't look very good. Are you okay?" A crusader, a 26 year old man with green eyes , a thin red mustache and wearing a helmet with two colorless horns came up to him with a concerned look in his eyes.

"I..." Ralis began to say, wondering if he stands a better chance being guided to Delgar instead of wandering around. "... I am a freelance mercenary looking to join the crusade. I am the one who rescued Kharm's nephew Keherrem and found the wardstone."

"Ah! I heard about that! That was you? What is your name? I am Vander Delk."

"I am Liam Ensler. I was tasked by Lieutenant Kharm to use the wardstone to get inside the the fort and negotiate a truce with the refugees." Ralis paused for a second to catch his breath, he got this feeling that his chest is on fire as if he had been running for a mile. "The negotiations were going fine until someone decided to shoot a magically enhanced cannonball into the fort that is slowly killing everyone inside."

Vander blinked in shock. "Oh no! We need to report this to Delgar and Kharm right away! Come with me, Liam!" Vander exclaimed.

"Thank you, Vander," Ralis said as he followed Vander to where Delgar and Kharm are found. They were near the northeastern corner of the palisade, not too far away from Karm's tent, but next to a bright red tent. There, Vander and Ralis found Kharm arguing with Delgar.

"Uh-oh..." Vander said, sensing that Kharm is in a heated debate with Delgar.

" _Who gave the order to use the siege weapons, huh?! Who gave the order?!_ " Kharm yelled at Delgar, a vein on his forehead visibly swelling up with blood.

"The Barghest gave the order, Kharm. He outranks us, and you know it. I don't make the rules here," Delgar said defensively.

" _I sent a loyal man inside the fort to negotiate a treaty already! Shooting at the fort with siege weapons will ruin all efforts of diplomacy with them! Why hasn't that half-orc dunce realized that?!_ "

"You should take it up with him or Vichand, not me. I don't know about you, but I prefer not to get demoted by questioning my superior. Now if you'll excuse me..." Delgar walked away, heading towards Ralis and Vander, walking past them but never glancing at them as he walked by them.

Kharm was grumbling angrily to himself until he noticed Ralis and Vander approaching him.

"Liam! Did everything go okay?"

"No, thanks to your superiors. They made a very stupid decision. They launched a magically enhanced cannonball into the fort, and now its magical effects are slowly killing the people inside the fort! Right when I was in the middle of negotiations with them! Their mage said that I need to find the mage who placed the enchantment on the cannonball to stop it before this gets out of hand!" Ralis explained.

"I didn't think you would earn the refugees' trust so easily..." Kharm rubbed his beard in amusement.

"On of the people leading the armed forces there is a friend of mine," Ralis said.

"Ah. That explains it. Anyway, the man you'll need to talk to is this Red Wizard of Thay named Vichand. His tent is behind me right there. He is most likely the mage you are searching for."

"Why haven't you spoken to him yet?" Ralis asked inquisitively, raising an eyebrow, wondering if Kharm is setting him up to be exposed as a traitor to the crusade by confronting Vichand about the enchanted cannonball.

"Because speaking to him was my last resort. I already told Delgar that I did not approve of our course of action, and confronting the Barghest about this is a fool's game. So that makes Vichand my third choice," Kharm admitted.

"He should have been your first choice, he is a mage, after all," Ralis said, then he approached the red tent.

Kharm stepped aside, and he and Vander watched Ralis call to the Red Wizard.

"Vichand, are you in there? I need to speak to you for a minute," Ralis called.

A few seconds later, the Red Wizard stepped out of his tent. Unlike Edwin, Vichand has the hood of his bright red robes down, exposing his shaved head covered in tattoos.

"What is this-? Why do you disturb my meditations?" He asked, the scowl on his face apparently showing how annoyed he is at being disturbed.

"Are you the mage who designed the spellstone that's infecting the inhabitants of Bridgefort?" Ralis asked.

Vichand smirked proudly. "You heard about that, did you? yes, it was an enchantment of my design. Quite effective. The fort will fall in days, if not hours. Caelar should be well pleased with my efforts," he said, his accent very similar to Edwin's.

"You idiot! Caelar won't be pleased with the fall of Bridgefort, you dunce!" Kharm snapped.

"You obviously haven't met Caelar, haven't you? She won't be pleased at the death of so many innocent lives. I am trying to negotiate a peace treaty with the inhabitants of Bridgefort, and your spellstone disrupted that! I want to see it stopped!" Ralis snapped at Vichand with Kharm to emphasize how stupid his plan is.

"You would see them stopped-? Who are you, exactly?" Vichand asked, looking rather confused.

Almost immediately, Ralis grabbed Vichand by the neck and pulled him close.

"I'm the last person you want to cross, that's who I am. Now tell me what I want to know."

"Ack! Gak! Don't hurt me- please! I'll give you what you want," Vichand conceded fearfully, then Ralis released him.

After rubbing his neck, Vichan reached into one of the pockets of his robes and pulled out a scroll. With it a feather fell out of the pocket and landed on the ground near Vichand's left foot. Ralis noticed the feather and quietly deduced that judging by its pristine white color, it could be a feather of a swan, or a planetar, which is what Neera needs.

"This is the scroll that I used to create the spellstone. Any spellcaster of even moderate skill can can use it to nullify the negative energy field," Vichand explained.

Ralis looked at him in suspicion. "Do not lie to me about this, Red Wizard. If I discover you have been lying to me, I will report you to Kharm and Delgar."

"Do not worry, Liam, I got my eye on this one," Kharm promised.

"Oh, and that feather down there that fell out of your pocket, what is that?" Ralis pointed at the feather resting on the ground near Vichand's left foot.

He bent down and picked it up. "This? This is a genuine planetar feather. Don't ask me where I got it because I will never tell you."

"I don't want you to tell me where you got it. I want you to give it to me," Ralis said.

"Really? And what will you give me in return?" Vichand asked, crossing his arms.

"This gold bust. Surely you can melt it down for gold," Ralis said, giving Vichand the gold bust that Ophyllis gave to him tendays ago.

Vichand smiled approvingly, and gave Ralis the planetar feather. "And here is your feather," he said graciously.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Ralis said before leaving.

* * *

He exited the palisade and headed back to the stone circle where he left the wardstone, and the wardstone teleported him back into the fort's cafeteria. There he reunited with his entire party, including Khalid, Wynan and everyone else, suffering under the effects of the spellstone.

"You have the scroll?" Wynan asked Ralis as soon as he stepped out of the circle.

"I do," Ralis said, handing it to him quickly.

Wynan took the scroll into his hands, examined it for a second then nodded approvingly. "Good. Stand back," he ordered.

Ralis, Khalid and everyone else did as he ordered, giving him plenty of space. Standing in front of the cannonball shaped spellstone, Wynan opened the scroll in front of his face and started reading the words needs to cast the spell to nullify the effects of the spellstone. As he continued chanting the words, everyone noticed a dark blue blanket of arcane energy slowly envelop the spellstone until it disappeared into it, and the glowing symbols on the spellstone slowly faded out, like a candle light slowly dying out.

"It is done," Wynan said, sighing with relief.

When he looked up from the inactive spellstone he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he thought he noticed a nearly transparent black form in front of him.

"What is that...?" Wynan squinted his eyes at the dark transparent figure in front of him. The ghostly figure looked like it wore a pitch black cloak dark as the starless and moonless night sky, and when he noticed the head of the ghostly figure, he saw glowing red eyes looking down at him. As soon as he saw the ghostly figure's red eyes, the realization of what he has seen hit him with pure horror.

"A DARK WRAITH!" Wynan screamed and backed away just when the wraith screeched and extended its black, bony right hand out to grab him.

The whole cafeteria descended into chaos, men, women and children ran out of the cafeteria to seek refuge in other places in the fort. Those armed with swords stayed in the cafeteria to fight the ghostly creature. Wraiths are undead ghost-like creatures born of darkness and evil. They despise light and any living creature, and they have the ability to drain the life from any living creature, turning them into new wraiths when they die. That means if the dark spellstone successfully killed all the inhabitants of Bridgefort, the crusade would be responsible for the creation of nearly a hundred new wraiths.

Wynan stumbled over a table trying to get away from the wraith while Ralis, Minsc, Khalid, Neera and everyone else jumped to the defense. Neera fired a magic missile at the creature without her magic going wild, then Dynaheir followed up with her own magic missiles, catching the wraith off guard. M'khiin summoned the spirits of two goblin warriors and they attacked the wraith without hesitation.

"How do we defeat this thing?!" Safana exclaimed.

"Light! We need natural sunlight!" Wynan exclaimed, still on the floor, crawling backwards away from the battle until his back pressed against the wall.

Thinking quickly, Corwin noticed that the sunlight from the hole in the ceiling is still shining down, and then she looked for a mirror of some kind. She saw a mirror laying on top of one of the cafeteria tables left behind by one of the refugees, then ran for it, grabbing it, and stepping under the sunlight, using the mirror to redirect some of the sun's light on the wraith.

"Ho ho! Nice thinking, Captain Corwin!" Voghiln commended her while the sunlight reflected from the mirror shone on the wraith's body.

The wraith felt something burning its back and it shrieked loudly in pain. Dynaheir threw another volley of magic missiles, and Ralis, Voghiln and Khalid charged at the wraith together and took turns slashing at it with their swords. Fortunately the swords they are using are not average swords, otherwise they would never be able to harm the creature. Soon the wraith's body faded into thin air, its shrieks died out with it.

Wynan scrambled up to his feet, still trembling with fear.

"Is... is it over?" He stuttered.

"Yes. The wraith is dead," Ralis assured the mage, reaching his right hand down at him, and Wynan took Ralis's hand and he pulled him up.

"You did right by us, Ralis. For that, I thank you," Wynan said.

"It's a privilege, sir. We're in this together," Ralis said.

"Indeed we are," Khalid said.

"You're right about that. I must continue fortifying our mystical defenses. Until we cross paths again, farewell," Wynan said before leaving the cafeteria, going back to the room where Ralis first met him.

"So, uh, what are we supposed to do about the stone? Being near that thing makes me feel as if I ate something that doesn't agree with me," Zari said.

"Yeah, me too," Ralis said, forcing himself to examine the inactive spellstone. He noticed that there is a part of the stone that has been shattered, and there are many shards of dark stone, their color a stygian blackness darker than any shadow. Ralis attempted to pry out some the shards with his fingers. Touching them made him feel a little more sicker.

"Ralis? What the hell are you doing?" Jaheira demanded.

Ralis had to suppress a gag reflex before speaking. "... I think these shards can be useful for something," he said, then managed to pull out the first shard, then he pulled out the second when he felt bile rising up from his throat and forced it back down to his stomach, then he pulled out the third shard and stopped, worried that he might vomit if he continued pulling out more shards.

Even holding these shards with his bare hands felt discomforting, so he asked Zari or Rayler to get a small cloth for him to wrap the shards in. When they returned and gave him the cloth, Ralis wrapped it around the shards and discovered that his idea worked, he no longer feels sick.

"What are you going to do now?" Rasaad asked.

"I'm going to see if Jegg and Thurm Hillcarver can forge weapons out of these shards," Ralis said.

* * *

Ralis returned to the fort's forge room by himself with the cloth containing the shards in his hands. Jegg and Thurm are, hard at work forging weapons, but when they saw Ralis, Jegg greeted him while Thurm continued working.

"Hey there, I heard you saved us all from certain death. S'pose I'm obliged to you for that. Is there anything I can do for you? Weapons you need? Armor?" Jegg asked him.

"Actually, there is something you might be able to help me with." Ralis held out both hands in front of Jegg and unfolded the cloth, revealing the three dark shards, long as a dagger's blade in front of Jegg's eyes. "I acquired these stone shards not too long ago. They clearly have magical qualities- I was wondering if you might be able to incorporate them into a weapon of some sort?"

Jegg took a closer look at the shards. Judging by the unsettled look on her face, she could tell that there is something dark and malicious about those shards. "My, those are disturbing, aren't they? What kind of weapon were you thinking of?" She asked.

"Um..." Ralis though it over carefully. He doesn't need another sword, and he isn't proficient with war hammers, axes or even maces, so arrows will have to do.

"Arrows would serve me well," Ralis admitted.

Jegg nodded in agreement. "I'll have your weapon ready for you," she promised as she gently took the cloth holding the shards out of Ralis's hands, then walked off towards the forge.

"I'll be waiting in the cafeteria," Ralis said before leaving.

For the next three hours, Ralis and his party killed time chatting with Khalid and some of the soldiers he has taken command of ever since the first day he had been trapped in Bridgefort. Three hours after Jegg started working on the arrows, Ralis remembered that he bought a planetar feather from Vichand, and told Neera about it while they were sitting at a table listening to Voghiln play music, entertaining people, and gave her the feather.

"Sorry I forgot about it," Ralis apologized.

"Yes! One step closer to getting rid of a certain someone. You know who I am talking about, Adoy..." Neera laughed gleefully yet close to the edge of insanity as she held the feather in her hand. "Light. Easy to carry. Critical element of the potion that will get this demented loon out of my head." Neera once again laughed with mild insanity. "Very, very useful..." She grinned.

At that moment, Jegg arrived in the cafeteria searching for Ralis and found him, she held the same cloth in her hand, and inside it is apparently the arrows. She placed the cloth on the table and opened it, revealing 30 void-tipped arrows. The head of the shaft of each arrow is carved from voidstone shards. The arrows don't look threatening, but the truth is, they are the most dangerous arrows on the face of Faerun. Ralis looked at the arrows in awe for a few seconds, then looked at Jegg in admiration.

"...Wow. You've outdone yourself, really." He congratulated her.

"Yep! Ruined three hammers working them in, but I did it in the end."

"Thanks, Jegg. You and your husband have gone above and beyond the call. I'll make sure I do the same for you and everyone else here," Ralis promised.

"I expect nothing more or less," Jegg said before leaving, heading back to the forge.

Ralis stood up grabbed his new arrows and placed them inside his quiver.

"What now?" M'Khiin asked.

"It's time we do something about these crusaders," Ralis announced.

Safana grinned in admiration. "Finally, the man in charge takes action. One of many reasons why I like you, Ralis," she cooed.

"I'm flattered, but we got a job to do. Khalid!"

"Yes, Ralis? What is it?" Khalid came running towards Ralis as soon as he called.

"I've spoken to Jegg and Wynan and I've made my decision on what to do."

"What have you decided?" Khalid asked, clearly eager to hear his friend's plan.

"The longer we wait, the more likely the crusade will come out with more tricks up their sleeves like that spellstone. It's time to take the battle to our enemy," Ralis declared.

Everyone in the cafeteria cheered.

"Yes!" Zari raised a fist high in the air in triumph.

"Yeah!" Rayler cheered.

"About time we kick these bastards in the nether regions!" Adirran exclaimed happily.

"Are you s-sure? Now is the time to attack the crusade?" Khalid asked.

"No, not yet. I'll go alert the Flaming Fist camp. When I tell them the plan, I'll return and tell you how this fight will play out," Ralis said.

And so, Ralis and his party departed the fort using the wardstone and headed several miles south back to the Flaming Fist campsite.

* * *

When they returned to the campsite, it is almost the afternoon, and Lieutenant Otilda and Corproal Duncan greeted them.

"Ralis. You've been gone for a day. What did you see out there?" Otilda asked.

"A lot of crusaders and a lot fewer Bridgefortians. But the latter are ready to strike in concert with us. Assemble the Flaming Fist. It's time to bring the battle to the crusade," Ralis said.

Otilda smiled and nodded. "I'll tell Corporal Duncan gather everyone and prepare for an assault."

"All right. I'll join you and brief everyone on the battle plan," Ralis said.

A few minutes later, Otilda and Duncan gathered everyone in the campsite to be briefed on the battle plan. 30 of the 100 Flaming Fist soldiers have been selected to take part in this battle, including Raypheus, Mizhena, Ralisar, Pfaug, Baeloth, Viconia, Edwin and everyone else Ralis brought along. Ralis informed everyone that the first thing will happen before the fight is a diversion. He and the Bridgefort defenders will fool the crusaders into believing that they have decided to surrender. Ralis will act as the Bridgefortians' representative, calling forth the Barghest to negotiate the aspects of the truce. Then the Flaming Fist soldiers will attack the crusaders at the gate and invade, and in the confusion the Bridgefortians will commence their attack next, overwhelming the confused and divided crusaders.

"... I won't lie to you all," Ralis said to everyone in front of him, with Otilda, Duncan, Nederlok and Corwin by his sides. "There is a possibility some of you won't live to take part in the fight against the crusade at Dragonspear Castle. But we all have a role to play in this fight. Nay, this is not the fight we've been gearing up for ever since we left Baldur's Gate but this battle is more important than any of us can possibly imagine. The outcome of this fight will either embolden us, or demoralize us... or embolden the crusaders or demoralize them. If we succeed... _when_ we succeed, it will send Caelar Argent a message that she will have no choice but to pay close attention to. That message will say: "We will not stand idle while you ransack the homes of people who want an honest, peaceful living! We will not stand idle while you forcibly conscript men and women who have never held a sword in their entire lives into your army! We will not stand idle while those who have fled to Baldur's Gate suffer slowly! _WE WILL NOT STAND IDLE WHILE YOU CHASE A MAD GOAL THAT WILL INEVITABLY BRING A THIRD DRAGONSPEAR WAR TO THESE LANDS!" That is the message we shall send to her today!_ "

After that empowering speech, everyone except Viconia, Baeloth, Safana, Edwin and M'Khiin started cheering.

"I have to admit, that hellspawn of Bhaal sure knows how to play to a crowd," Baeloth said to Viconia while watching Ralis.

Viconia only crossed her arms and pouted. Baeloth was expecting Viconia to say a witty, belittling comment about Ralis, but she said nothing.

"Hmm? No glib remark? No pithy quip? I expected you to say a witty gibe about our star performer, you know," Baeloth said.

Viconia frowned at him. "What do you expect me to say about him, _jaluk? (male?)_ That he is courageous? Weak-willed?" Headstrong? Stupid? What you expect me to say? Surely you know everything I have to say about him, so leave me be."

Baeloth nodded slowly. "Ah. I see. I'll leave you to your thoughts for now," he said then walked away from Viconia.

After the briefing ended, Ralis headed back towards Bridgefort with Rasaad, M'Khiin, Viconia, Jaheira and Voghiln by his side while the 30 Flaming Fist soldiers including a few mages and clerics with Raypheus, Pfaug, Ralisar, Corwin, Baeloth, Edwin Minsc, Dynaheir and Coogan followed several yards behind them. When they got close to Bridgefort, Ralis and his chosen party of five had to drink some potions of invisibility to get across the road unnoticed by the guards at Bridgefort's walled gate. The Flaming Fist soldiers had to stay hidden in the forest and wait for the signal. Ralis and his party approached the magic circle, used the wardstone to get inside the fort, and they went up the stairs from the cafeteria to meet with Khalid in the room where there are many sleeping refugees resting on bedrolls.

"What news, m-my friend?" Khalid asked.

"The time has come to begin our attack. The Flaming Fist stand ready to join us," Ralis announced.

Everyone in the room cheered.

"Victory is at hand! What shall we do?" Khalid asked Ralis.

Then he smirked at Khalid before explaining the whole thing.

* * *

Meanwhile outside the fort, the crusaders have noticed that the Bridgefort defenders have stopped raining arrows down at them.

"Hey! The Bridgefortians have ceased fire!" One of the crusaders exclaimed.

The Barghest, who was supervising the archers shooting at the Bridgefort defenders up on the fort walls sensed that something is amiss. He scanned the walls. Not a single defender remained up their firing arrows down at them.

"What's happening?" Oloneiros asked, coming up to his side.

"I don't know yet. It seems the Bridgefortians are up to something," he said then snorted.

"What could they possibly be up to?" Oloneiros asked with curiosity.

"Hold, and we shall see," The Barghest said evenly.

Three minutes later, the unmistakable sound of gears grinding and chains rattling filled the air as the drawbridge visibly dropped down slowly.

"They're dropping the drawbridge! They're dropping the drawbridge!" Two crusaders exclaimed happily.

"They are surrendering!" A crusader woman exclaimed!

All the crusaders started cheering behind the Barghest.

He looked back at them and gave them all a withering glare to secure their silence. Everyone watched as the drawbridge slowly dropped down until the end of it touched the other side of the moat. Now the crusaders had a clear view of Ralis, Khalid, Rayler, Adirran and thirteen other Bridgefort defenders inside the fort carrying crates full of supplies towards them. The crates are able to be carried by one person, so that means Ralis and the others are carrying 17 crates total, and they walked forward, setting foot on the drawbridge, walking towards the crusaders. The Barghest noticed that none of the crusaders are armed, carrying swords sheathed to their belts, so this very unlikely to be a trick.

"Is this a trick? Are you actually surrendering?" He called out to them.

Ralis, who is ahead of everyone, set his crate down first then said: "This is no trick. We are surrendering."

Khalid and five other Bridgefortians walked past Ralis, setting their crates down a few feet in front of him flanking his crate, then moved back to stand behind him. The Barghest slowly approached Ralis, who is standing behind the crate he set down.

"Who are you?" The half-orc eyed Ralis suspiciously.

"Some of you crusaders back there know me as Liam Ensler. But in reality... my name is Ralis Rutela, the hero of Baldur's Gate."

All the crusaders gasped in shock.

"How is that possible?!" Keherrem gasped in surprise.

"He was the hero of Baldur's Gate I've been hearing about all this time..." Kharm said in shock.

"You are the one they call the Barghest, right? I've come to surrender and bargain," Ralis announced.

Just then, Oloneiros came up to the Barghest.

"His presence changes things, do not accept his terms," she urged him, but he ignored her.

"Speak your piece, hero of Baldur's Gate."

Ralis cleared his throat and said: "As you can see, I have convinced the Bridgefortians to surrender some of their supplies to you. Take these supplies, and leave these people in peace."

"Some? This isn't all of the supplies you have in the fort?" The Barghest asked incredulously, eyeballing the crate between him and Ralis, and the other crates behind Ralis.

"No. These people need these supplies as much as you do, so I convinced them to compromise with you," Ralis said.

"We will not accept a compromise. These supplies will not be enough to for our soldiers to survive the coming winter. Give us all of the supplies you have, and I swear on my honor and Caelar's honor that you and the people in this fort will live," The Barghest promised.

"No! You can't do that! The Shining Lady has plans for him! You can't just let him go free!" Oloneiros exclaimed.

"Oloneiros, you are out of line! I am your commanding officer, and I demand that you stand down!" The Barghest snapped.

Huffing angrily, Oloneiros reluctantly stepped back.

"I cannot accept your offer. You might believe your offer sounds noble and just, but the truth is if you leave these people with no food or water, they will die of hunger and thirst before they can get to Soubar. Your honor will doom them all whether you realize it or not," Ralis said.

"We of Caelar Argent's crusade fight for a noble cause more greater than you can possibly imagine. You have a noble reputation as a hero of Baldur's Gate, even you must realize our cause is right."

"On the outside it is, but the truth is you follow a reckless madwoman who won't even pause to take a glance at the aftermath of her actions," Ralis retorted.

"Then it seems we are at an impasse," The Barghest noted.

"No. We are at an end," Ralis said then whistled loudly.

Then suddenly, out of eleven of the sixteen crates behind Ralis, eleven new Bridgefortian defenders popped out of the crates like jack-in-the-box toys, armed with bows and arrows or crossbow bolts and fired at the unsuspecting crusader archers behind the Barghest! Most of the arrows and quarrels hit their mark, five out of eight of the crusader archers have been bright down! The surprise attack shocked the Barghest, Oloneiros and the rest of the crusaders watching the drama play out, and at the same time, Ralis quickly kicked the lid off the crate in front of him, and grabbed his swords inside the crate just when the Barghest slammed the visor of his helmet down over his face and pulled his broadsword out of its scabbard. Ralis's longbow and quiver containing his void-tipped arrows are inside the crate too, but he didn't have time to grab them and equip them, not with the Barghest so close to him. While the Bridgefortian archers who were in most of the boxes continued firing their arrows, Khalid, Rayler and Adirran opened the boxes containing their weapons and quickly equipped themselves while the rest of the Bridgefortian soldiers along with a group of mercenaries including Voghiln, Rasaad, M'Khiin, Viconia and Jaheira came out of the fort, weapons drawn and yelling as they crossed the drawbridge, running past Ralis and the Barghest who were busy clashing swords.

"For Bridgefort!" Khalid yelled.

"Open fire! Open fire!" Delgar exclaimed to the last three archers while some of his fighters charged to meet the Bridgefortian fighters head on in melee combat.

Sometimes the Barghest was able to redirect his sword while parrying Ralis's sword to wound a Bridgefortian fighter running past them. Those who were nicked or cut by the Barghest's blade fell into the moat's water below. Those who managed to get past them met 26 of Delgar's fighters in combat, with Hormorn and Vichand giving magical support to them, casting Bless spells and the like. Then at that moment, Kharm and Keherrem heard shouting from the crusaders guarding the gate coupled with the shouts of their men fighting the Bridgefortian soldiers.

"We're under attack from both sides!" One crusader who was stationed at the gates exclaimed while running towards Keherrem and Kharm.

They looked over at the gate and saw that the crusader sergeant and her men are under attack by Flaming Fist soldiers and their hired help.

"This cannot be...!" Kharm gasped.

The Flaming Fist soldiers cut down the crusader sergeant and her men with extreme prejudice and barged in to meet with more crusaders armed and ready to fight for the glory of the Shining Lady.

"May the Oakfather have mercy upon you! Mighty Voghiln will not!" Voghiln exclaimed then charged at a crusader who is armed with a falchion sword. Caught off guard by the enraged bearded man coming at him, 13 feet away he backed away several feet, unnerved at the sight of a ferocious bearded man coming at him with war ax that looked different and more dangerous than common ones. He readied himself to parry the strike, but instead, Voghiln threw his war ax at the man, and the blade spun through the air, and lodged itself in the man's forehead, nearly splitting his skull in half.

"FOR THE SHINING LADY! HIYAAAH!" An emboldened and enraged elite crusader with long flowing black hair charged at a Flaming Fist soldier, striking at him, with his two short swords, striking and parrying until he could find a weak spot and exploit it.

When the opportunity presented itself, he stabbed the Flaming Fist solder in the gut with both blades and pulled them apart, creating a gash big enough for a waterfall of blood to spill out of the soldier's wound as he collapsed dead, and at the same time, Corwin, alongside Glint, fired an arrow at Keherrem but missed, almost hitting his shoulder, then three Flaming Fist soldiers with Raypheus following behind them moved past Corwin and Glint, rushing to meet four crusaders in melee combat ahead of her.

" _Get in there! Go! Go! Go!_ " Corwin shouted and several Flaming Fist soldiers rushed past her, but a few battle mages and Edwin, Baeloth and Ralisar stayed behind the battle lines to offer spellcasting support.

"Here comes 300 pounds of justice!" Minsc exclaimed, brazenly charging forward with several Flaming fist soldiers.

The Bridgefortian defender mage, Elandro, cast the Haste spell on most of the Bridgefortian soldiers while Oloneiros cast Bless on the Crusaders, and Minsc came in charging and swinging his broadsword yelling: "True justice is here for swift butt kicking!" Slashing up any crusader recruit stupid enough to believe they could stand against him.

Back near the drawbridge, Delgar engaged Khalid in battle, and Rasaad armed with nothing but his burning fists fought the crusaders unarmed, ducking and dodging sword strikes and the like, somersaulting, and when the opportunity presented itself, punched some crusaders who wore no helmets in their face, burning part of their faces, and breaking a few arms. Delgar tried to break past Khalid's shield defenses, but he couldn't find a weak point in Khalid's defenses, then as soon as Khalid bashed his shield against Delgar's face, he was forced to fight an elite crusader, a half-elf woman armed with a spear who tried to stab him in the back. He broke away from engaging Delgar and focused on the elite crusader while Delgar recovered and took down two Bridgefortian soldiers who tried to double team him, and after slaying them, his body armor became coated with bloodstains.

Mari, an human adventurer from Scornubel teamed up with Adirran and fought the other crusaders. Bridgefort quickly became a war zone, with Ralis and the Barghest in an epic sword fight on the drawbridge, Neera giving magical support with Elandro, Oloneiros killed an adventurer named Farrl with the Finger of Death spell (she would have targeted Ralis with that spell, but she can't since she doesn't have a clear view of the drawbridge). Viconia engaged Kharm in melee battle while Coogan ran over to the cages where Dorn is kept with the trolls and released him. Once released, Dorn went over to the wheelbarrow where Ralis found Myf's journal then put on his armor, grabbed his sword Rancor, and joined the fight. Once Dorn joined in the fight, the fight got much more bloodier, fortunately for the Flaming Fist and Bridgefortians. Dorn overwhelmed every crusader that dared to cross him with his blackguard superiority and fighting skills. He even overpowered Keherrem and cut down the young dwarf with relative ease. Kharm had no time to cry for his slain nephew, he had to focus on parrying Viconia's mace strikes and find a weak spot in her fighting style. Fortunately for Viconia he never found it because Glint killed him with a sling bullet to the head. Duncan, who had just recently slain a crusader recruit moved on to another crusader while being hasted and buffed by the spells of a Flaming Fist battlemage.

Rend and his half-orc friends were in the fight too, slaughtering any crusader that got in their way, but the crusader Rend is really looking for is the Barghest, that's his main target. Vichand cast Larloch's Minor Drain on an adventurer who was trapped inside Bridgefort named Estebarre, taking him down. Voghiln took down another crusader in a similar fashion as he had done with the first one, and Coogan who was firing arrows at crusader after crusader got blinded by a crusader mage, then an elite crusader woman impaled blind Coogan with a broadsword, ending her life unfairly.

"Argh!" Delgar yelped, his left shoulder shooting pain up to his brain after catching one of Corwin's arrows, then he looked to his left and saw Rend coming at him.

He raised his sword up with his right arm to parry, and his sword and Rend's locked together briefly, but Rend kicked Delgar in the chest, knocking him down to the ground, then Rend jumped up in the air, landed on Delgar before he could roll away and impaled his sword into the man's heart.

"Gaaarrghh!" Delgar cried, his mouth and nose spurting out blood before he died.

M'Khiin summoned the spirits of three venomous snakes and a panther, and they went to work attacking the crusaders.

"What is this?! Aagh! Snake! Help!" Was the usual cry from crusaders who were attacked by the snake spirits M'Khiin summoned, and the grizzly bear spirit mauled an elite crusader who was distracted overpowering a Flaming Fist scout that was fighting defensively.

"Die! DIE!" M'Khiin exclaimed, throwing her ax at a crusader mage who was trying to cast the Chain Lightning Spell on the group of Bridgefortian soldiers fighting crusader soldiers ahead of him, but he never finished it because M'khiin's ax split his nose into two halves, disrupting the spell and killing him, and at that moment Dorn found Hormorn, the man he had been tasked to kill before he got captured, and cut him down more easily since he is not armed with a blade, just magic spells.

"Die, villain!" The Barghest snarled and threw a mighty swing with his sword at Ralis!

"Whoa!" Ralis crouched to dodge the swing, not daring to parry it, then he swung out with Albruin, nicking the Barghest in his arm. Big mistake. That only enraged the Bargest more, and he started swinging at Ralis with strikes too strong to parry, and Ralis is getting fatigued from doing so much dodging. Then at that moment, Rend came charging from behind the Barghest.

"YOU!" Rend roared.

Without looking behind him, the Barghest stepped aside and Rend nearly ran into Ralis but fortunately Ralis stepped aside too, and Rend managed to stop himself from sprinting and turned around to face the Barghest with Ralis by his side.

"You remember me, don't you?" Rend asked.

"You're the one who wanted to join the crusade but you weren't worthy," the Barghest said under his closed visor.

"Not worthy? NOT WORTHY!? You are a half orc like me! What makes _you_ so damned special?!" Rend charged at him again, but the Barghest did not move this time. He met with Rend, parried his sword, turned it aside, spun around moving to Rend's back and drove his broadsword through his back and out his chest. Rend gasped in shock and defeat, feeling his body gradually growing more and more colder as he neared death.

"Because I fight with honor. You fight for personal pleasures," The Barghest whispered into Rend's left ear, then pulled his sword out, allowing Rend to fall into the bloodstained waters below the drawbridge.

"Rend! No!" Ralis exclaimed. He dropped Albruin and activated Call Upon Holy Might to enhance his physical strength, then gripped both hands on Severance.

"Your villainous deeds will not go unpunished!" The Barghest scolded Ralis. "The cause of the crusade will succeed! Even if you win this battle today, your victory will mean nothing!"

"Maybe, maybe not. But you won't be there to see it!" Ralis charged at the Barghest and swung Severance's blade at him, and the Barghest deflected the blade with his sword, and Ralis continued going on the offensive until the Barghest kicked Ralis in the chest, knocking him down.

Before Ralis could get up, he saw the Barghest towering over him, preparing to impale him with his sword. Instead of rolling away, Ralis chose to do something stupid. He caught the Barghest's blade with his bare hands before the blade could pierce his chest! The Barghest blinked in surprise under his visor and tried to push the blade down to Ralis's chest. Ralis could feel the sharp edges of the blade slowly cutting into the palms of his hands, and he could feel warm blood coating his hands and the blade making the blade a little slippery to hold, and the stinging pain that came with it. Ralis knew that if he doesn't do something quick, he will lose his grip on the blade and it will pierce his heart, so he used all his might to bend the blade to his right before his grip on his blade could slip because of his blood. He strained, trying to bend the blade for the next seven seconds until finally, he managed to break the Barghest's sword.

The Barghest gasped in surprise, seeing the upper part of his blade broken, then Ralis took that opportunity to grab Severance despite the throbbing pain from his cut right hand, jump up on his legs then strike the Barghest down. Ralis impaled Severance's blade into a weak spot of the Barghest's armor, several inches close to the armpit, and even though the blade didn't directly pierce his heart, the blade punctured his right lung and still sapped away his life energy, healing the wounds on Ralis's hands. He pulled Severance out after he was done healing and the Barghest collapsed on his back, then Ralis wasted no time impaling his sword into the half-orc's chest.

* * *

The crusader numbers have been dwindling at a faster rate than the body count of Bridgefort defenders, Flaming Fist soldiers and mercenaries, but after the Barghest's death, the tide began to turn drastically, losing the Barghest felled the morale of the surviving crusaders. The only ones left alive are three crusader sentries and Oloneiros, and they are running for the closed gate that leads to Boareskyr Bridge itself.

"We are defeated? How- how is this possible?" One of the sentries asked in disbelief.

"We are being tested!" Sentry #2 exclaimed.

"Quickly, destroy the bridge so that none can follow," Sentry #3 exclaimed, unlocking the gates of the makeshift wall that blocks off Boareskyr Bridge then pushed it open, the sentries and Oloneiros making their escape.

One of the Flaming Fist mages noticed them making their escape and ran for the drawbridge in search of Ralis. She found him at the drawbridge cleaning the Barghest's bloodstains off Severance +2 by the time the last crusader had been brought down

"Ralis! The crusade's falling back! but they're placing barrels like those that destroyed Coast Way Crossing along Boareskyr Bridge!"

"They kept us from crossing the Winding Water once. Odds are they'll do it again. We can't let that happen," Corwin said.

"Come on! Let's go!" Ralis exclaimed, grabbing his bow and quiver from the box, strapping them on and then making a beeline towards the gate leading out to Boareskyr Bridge, with Voghiln, Khalid, M'Khiin, Corwin and Glint following him.

After passing through the gate, they found themselves overlooking the bridge stretched over a river that is 59 feet long in width to the other end.

On both ends of the bridge are two statues facing each other, Bhaal and Cyric. And on the bridge itself about 27 feet ahead of them, Ralis and his party saw the crusader sentries preparing to light the explosives that will destroy the bridge.

"You there! Get back, away from the bridge. None but the followers of light shall pass!" One of the five crusaders exclaimed to Ralis and his party.

"We're under attack! Blow the barrels, now!" The crusader woman with short black hair exclaimed to Oloneiros next to her.

"Damn it to hells, I'm trying! Hold them off- I need more time to finish off the summoning!" Oloneiros exclaimed, trying to come up with a simple small fireball spell to set off the explosive barrels they got lined up.

Before the crusaders could react, Ralis had already fired an arrow, aimed at Oloneiros. One of the crusaders tried to get between Oloneiros and the incoming arrow, but he reacted too slow. The arrow breezed past his head and pierced right through Oloneiros's back, severing her spine. She screamed in pain and collapsed, barely alive but nearly dead.

"No! Damn it!" One of the crusaders exclaimed, knowing that since they lost Oloneiros, their efforts of destroying Boareskyr Bridge have failed.

But they didn't go down without a fight. The three sentries charged at Ralis and his party exclaiming: "For the Shining Lady!" And before they could get close for melee combat, Ralis and Corwin two of them down, and Khalid cut the last sentry down with his sword.

"Wow. Even when they know they've lost, they still fight to the end," Ralis observed.

"Their devotion to Caelar is their p-prime motivator," Khalid said, then the returned to Bridgefort.

Back inside, they saw the surviving Bridgefort soldiers and the Flaming Fist soldiers all together, even the Dumathoin dwarves are here even though they didn't participate in the fight, healing the wounded with cleric spells and healing potions and celebrating their victory. Even Skie is there, standing next to Duncan.

"Ralis! Tell me, were things here interesting? things at the camp were dull, dull dull. Corporal Duncan absolutely refused to let me out of it," Skie complained.

"Ah, I'm certain he just seeks to protect you. None of us wants to thee the Flaming Fist's most valuable new recruit endangered," Ralis said.

"Thank you for that, Ralis. Perhaps now I'll get some peace," Duncan said with relief.

"I'm sorry, Corporal Duncan, did you just say something?" Skie eyeballed Duncan with suspicion, and the tone of her voice hinting she clearly heard what he said.

"...No. I didn't say anything, recruit," Duncan said sullenly, refusing to look Skie in her eyes, and instead focused on Ralis. "We've done well here, Ralis. Hopefully, our luck holds out until we reach Dragonspear. Lead the way across the bridge when you're ready. the rest of us will follow."

"Got it, Ralis nodded. It took twenty minutes for everyone to prepare for the journey across Boareskyr Bridge. Now, with Ralis at the head of the spear, he led everyone across the bridge.

After passing through the makeshift gates, he looked to his right and saw the towering statue of Bhaal, glaring accusingly at the statue of Cyric on the other end of the bridge.

 _I can't believe it..._ Ralis commented in his mind. _I am visiting the exact place where my father had been slain all those years ago..._ After moving aside the explosive barrels set by the crusaders, everyone moved across the bridge.

Most of the Flaming Fist mercenaries were tasked to carry the explosives with them to Dragonsper Castle rather than leave them at the bridge, however, Duncan and Nederlok's orders. Ralis glanced behind him and saw over a hundred people following behind him, his entire party, the surviving Flaming Fist soldiers, Kava, and the dwarves of Dumathoin, everyone is literally behind him. He smiled and continued walking across the bridge, taking in the breathtaking surroundings, but he could imagine what is going on in Corwin, Dynaheir, Khalid, Jaheira, Dorn, Safana and Viconia's minds, since they know he is one of Bhaal's children, and Bhaal died in this area.

When they were halfway across the bridge, Ralis decided to look over the edge of the bridge. When he peered over the the edge of the railing to his left, he saw that most of the water below and beyond it down river is murky black. At first he cwas confused about why the water on the west side of Boareskyr Bridge looks so dirty and polluted, but he remembered from his Candlekeep studies that it is because Bhaal's body is still at the bottom of the river, his decaying corpse have been polluting the waters around Boareskyr Bridge for the past ten years since his demise during the Time of Troubles.

"Gods... this is all so surreal..." Ralis whispered to himself, wondering which spot underwater is where Bhaal's decomposing corpse is resting.

"I wouldn't fall down there if I were you, hero," one of the Flaming Fist soldiers called to Ralis.

"Yeah. That water is most definitely not drinkable," a woman among the Flaming Fist scouts exclaimed.

Ralis chuckled. "Thanks for the warning," he called to them and continued leading the way across the bridge.

"Does he know?" Rasaad asked Dynaheir.

She simply nodded.

Ralis fixed his eyes on the statue of Cyric on the left hand side of the bridge as he neared closer to the bridge's end. But then... he started to feel strange. A similar feeling he felt when at the mercy of the sickening effects of the dark spellstone.

"Ugghh... Gahhh..." Ralis gagged, dropping down to his knees and collapsed.

At that moment everyone behind him noticed something is wrong.

"What's wrong with Ralis?" Glint asked.

"Oh no!" Corwin exclaimed at the moment when Ralis collapsed to the ground as if he had died.

Then a bright light beamed down on him from a small cloud-like object seven feet above his head. Ralis fell into a deep sleep. He didn't have any control over his body, he just suddenly lost consciousness and got thrown into darkness.

* * *

After a few minutes being lost in darkness, Ralis noticed that the environment around him began to materialize back into a familiar location. He is back on Boareskyr Bridge, but something felt strange. He couldn't see none of his party or the Flaming Fist contingent on the bridge with him, and what's even stranger, the skies, the water, the bridge, everything is in black and white color, and then suddenly the bridge became enveloped in fog. Seconds later, he heard footsteps. He looked left and right, but he couldn't see anyone. The footsteps grew gradually louder, and to his right, in the direction where Cyric's statue is located, he saw a shadowy figure in the fog approaching. Ralis stood his ground and didn't say a word, waiting to see who it could be. Slowly but surely, the figure came into clear view from the fog. The figure is a human man who seems to be in his late 50's yet very physically fit, his left arm is missing its forearm for some reason, he has a thick mottled mustache and beard which are connected to each other without sideburns, and he has long shaggy hair that reaches down to his jaw, and his eyes are completely bloodshot red. It took Ralis a few seconds to realize this, the man he is looking at is none other than his true father, the Lord of Murder himself, Bhaal. His avatar, to be exact.

Ralis swallowed some saliva in surprise, breathing through his mouth and eyes wide in shock. _That man is my father...?!_ Ralis didn't dare to speak to him or get his attention, besides, Bhaal didn't even seem to notice him. After Bhaal walked past him, Ralis heard new footsteps. A new figure materialized in the fog, holding a sword in his hand. Ralis knew that this man must be Cyric. Cyric is apparently younger than Bhaal, early or mid 30's possibly, his mature boyish face gleaming with mischief. Somehow, for some reason, he is seeing a vision of the past. He watched as Cyric walked by him, a wicked grin on his face as he snuck up behind Bhaal. When Cyric got close enough to stab Bhaal in the back, Bhaal sensed that there is someone behind him, and by the time he looked back and saw Cyric, the blade of Godsbane pierced through Bhaal's back, puncturing his heart in the process. Then suddenly, bright light burst through Bhaal's mouth, eyes and wound on his chest as if being stabbed set him off like a bomb. Ralis wasn't sure if that's how the past event played out, but the bright light from Bhaal's wounded body grew even more brighter until the whiteness blocked out the entire environment, turning Ralis's surroundings into nothing but whiteness, then he saw Bhaal's unholy symbol appear in front of his eyes, a grinning skull surrounded by multiple teardrop shaped circles. An all too familiar symbol. Then everything faded into black.

Ralis groggily woke up, coming to his senses, feeling the hard pavement against his left cheek, hearing the surprised and mildly terrified commotion of his party, the Flaming Fist soldiers and the dwarves of Dumathoin less than 14 feet away behind him as he struggled to stand up on his feet. He barely noticed, but on the ground around him is the symbol of Bhaal burnt into the bridge's brick pavement, wisps of smoke rising up around him from the charred pavement. He almost collapsed on his legs but ran for the bridge's left edge in time to rest on the railing and steady himself. He looked up ahead and saw the mysterious hooded man coming towards him.

"You feel it, do you not? Something has changed. Your tenuous connection to the essence within you has been rewoven and reinforced- if not necessarily refined. An impressive achievement, even if you yet lack the control necessary to bring your abilities to their full flower," he said.

"Uhhh... What just happened?" Ralis groaned, trying to get his bearings.

"A dead god's blood lingers long; there are remnants of your father's power here, even now. I am not surprised something was awoken within you. Tell me. What did you see?"

Ralis felt a severe, throbbing headache, but he endured the pain to search his memories of the vision. "I saw- Bhaal. His death, at the hand of Cyric," he told the hooded man, still leaning against the railing.

"It is not unknown for events of great import to in some way imprint themselves on the site of their occasion. The vestiges of Bhaal's passing are potent here."

Ralis found the energy to stand up on his feet as the hooded man said:

"Bhaal had many enemies. Knowing this did not empower him to the extent that he could avoid his demise, but it did allow him to plan for it. He lives on through you and your brethren. You sense his whispers even now, quiet and insidious. They will grow ever stronger. His demands will become screams that drown out all else. In showing mercy, you showed weakness. When you spoke to Caelar Argent, you sought diplomacy, an end to the "damage wrought across the land". Do you think your enemies understand compassion? Do you think they care for the greater good?"

Ralis looked at the hooded man in surprise despite the lingering pain he felt. "How did you know what I said at the bridge?" He asked, and at that moment he felt the pain of his headache becoming less and less severe by the second.

"You must know by now that nothing you do escapes my sight. I know your past. I watch your present. Thus, I know your future. It was written in your blood long ago."

"Bhaal's divine blood may flow through my veins, but I am no mindless thrall," Ralis retorted through gritted teeth.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. For the moment, you serve your father's will by merely surviving. You are not like the sheep you walk amongst. They distract you with their bleating whine. You have a purpose far beyond theirs- if you have strength enough to grasp it." Then the hooded man began pacing back and forth in front of Ralis, his arms clasped behind his back. "Most go about their days unawares, blind to the truths around them, pushed and pulled by forces beyond their understanding. Control is what sets us apart from the animals scrabbling through the dirt. We must be masters of our lives, of whatever resources we have to bear, bending them to our will. You will learn this in time."

He stopped pacing and looked directly at Ralis now. "Caelar Argent has but the tiniest portion of divine essence, yet she has boldly claimed her birthright and taken control of her destiny. You have half a god flowing through your veins, and yet you stumble your way toward your destiny as if blind," he said in a patronizing tone. "Spread your wings, feel their power. Let this test you. If you are lucky- if you do well- further tests will come. Perhaps eventually, you will learn what you need to soar," the hooded man said, saying "soar" graciously while he spread his arms out like the wings of an eagle. Then he turned around, walked away a few steps and entered a dimensional door.

After that, Ralis uneasily led the group across Boareskyr Bridge and journeyed up the very long road that will eventually take them to Dragonspear Castle, with Corwin and Rasaad by his sides to make sure he doesn't collapse again. Ralis knew that everyone saw the symbol of Bhaal burned onto the bridge in plain sight, and it created an air of unease among the Flaming Fist and some of their allies. Question is, will this affect the mission?


	12. Chapter 12 The Meeting of Heroes

**_To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future._**

 _ **-Plutarch**_

* * *

Ralis felt an air of unease around him. He is fully aware that everyone behind him saw the symbol of Bhaal burned onto the bridge, including his conversation with the hooded man. It will take days or weeks for someone to clean the bridge off, but even if they did, the memory of it will remain fresh in the memory of his party and the Flaming Fist coalition. And all this happened while he fainted on the bridge and had a dream of seeing Bhaal's demise at the hands of Cyric even though he was not there when the event happened ten years ago. He was only ten or eleven years old back then when it all happened, sheltered behind the fortified walls of Candlekeep! And why is that odd hooded man so interested in him? So many questions, so little answers.

"Ralis!" He heard Khalid's voice come up behind him.

Ralis looked over his shoulder and saw Khalid run up to his left, followed by Corwin, and his entire party, but the Flaming Fist armies and the dwarves of Dumathoin lingered back several yards away, no doubt murmuring among themselves.

"Khalid. Corwin. I suppose you have questions about what happened back there," Ralis said sullenly.

"Yes, we certainly do. What the hells happened back there? You just suddenly fainted and this bright light of energy burned Bhaal's symbol on the ground around you," Corwin said.

"Yeah, and that strange hooded guy appeared and- _BLOODY HELLS, ADOY, TAKE A COFFEE BREAK FOR TEN MINUTES, WILL YA?_ " Neera said to Ralis, then suddenly exclaimed to Adoy, wherever he is.

Almost everyone looked at Neera in silence for a few seconds, possibly wondering if she is mentally sane or not, then they decided to ignore her sudden outburst and move on.

"I'm wondering the same thing Neera is wondering. Who was that hooded man, anyway?" Corwin asked Ralis.

"I have no idea!" Ralis responded. "He won't tell me his name or why he is interested in evaluating me."

"Evaluate? For what?" Rasaad asked with curiosity.

"I wish I knew," Ralis said sullen shrug of his shoulders.

The entire group walked down the road in silence for the next minute until Baeloth decided to speak up.

"That... was the most unexpected spectacle I have ever seen. Tell me, would you happen to be a child of Bhaal, by any chance?" Baeloth asked Ralis.

Ralis looked over his shoulder, glaring at the drow being flanked cautiously by Voghlin to his left, and Minsc to his right.

"What do you know about Bhaal, drow? I didn't think you'd be familiar with gods of other races," Ralis said.

"Some drow are more well-traveled than others, _waeles (idiot),_ " Viconia said almost spitefully.

Baeloth chuckled, then said: "You see, my fascinating human compatriot, when you have been forcefully banished to the surface world for the past eight months or more, you'll soon realize that you must grow accustomed to the lifestyle and flora and fauna of a foreign world, including other gods, rather than sticking with the knowledge you had from the Underdark."

Ralis raised an eyebrow. "You were banished from the Underdark? Why?"

Baeloth gasped softly, then grumbled to himself, wishing Ralis never asked that question.

"My friend asked you a question, fiendish drow. Speak to him, and no funny business, or the sword of justice will come crashing down on you," Minsc warned Baeloth, and Boo hissed like an angry cat at Baeloth from Minsc's left shoulder.

"Ja, in addition to the mighty swing of an ax," Voghiln added, smirking at Baeloth and winked at him.

Baeloth ignored Voghiln and instead looked up at Boo glaring down at him from Minsc's shoulder.

"Excuse me, tall one, may I inquire why you carry that gerbil on your shoulder?" He asked.

"GERBIL?!" Minsc immediately turned to glare at Baeloth, making his heart jump.

"Oh crap," Neera's eyes widened.

"You dare call my hamster a gerbil?! Boo is NOT a gerbil! He is a miniature giant space hamster!"

Baeloth paused for a moment, then slowly nodded, obviously in a skeptical manner. "...Uh-huh. You do realize gerbils and hamsters look alike, don't you? How do you know he is not a miniature giant space gerbil?"

" _Because there is no such thing as a miniature giant space gerbil!_ " Minsc snapped.

"Baeloth! You did not answer my question. Answer it," Ralis called.

"All right, already! Sagacious little specimen, aren't you? *sigh*... Remember that show I put on back near the Coast Way crossing bridge?"

"You mean your pitiful show where I met you and M'Khiin?" Ralis asked.

"Yes, that one," Baeloth confirmed. "Many months ago, back in the Underdark, I hosted another show similar to it, but far, far better. I called it The Black Pits!"

Jaheira huffed in disdain.

"Huh. Cheery name. I bet you had fun hosting pits that are so dark you can't even see your hand in front of your face," Neera said sarcastically then nearly tripped over a rock in the road. "No one saw that, right?"

"I did. You tripped over a rock," M'Khiin said.

"It was the pinnacle of entertainment, I tell you! Drow from almost every city in the Underdark were invited to see dozens of intrepid gladiators from all over Faerun participate in the most entertaining battles!" Baeloth exclaimed in the manner of an enthusiastic game show host.

Everyone around him fell silent as they continued walking up the road, and Corwin noticed to their right, they passed by an old well not to far away from the road, close to the trees. The bucket attached to the rope that is tied to a thick wooden stick over the well sat on the partially broken stone structure. A common rumor about that well is that a powerful entity has been somehow imprisoned in that well. Corwin remembered that Duncan wrote about this well in his report, he managed to draw up fresh, clean water with the bucket even though the winch is old and rickety. Even though he had heard that locals throw coins in the well in hopes for their wishes to be granted, he never tested the superstition.

"... And these "gladiators" you mentioned, did they volunteer to take part in your Black Pits, or were they forced into it?" Ralis asked the dark elf man warily, breaking the silence.

Baeloth chuckled. "Some volunteered. Others... well, they had to come against their will, I won't lie," he admitted. "... But thanks to six of these persistent gladiators, The Black Pits is no more," he said with a growl, his expression darkening, his voice clearly hinting restrained anger. "They conquered every challenge I threw at them! It was unprecedented! No other gladiator lasted as long as they did! And in the end, after personally defeating me in battle, my djinn servant betrayed me, freed all the gladiators, and banished me to the surface world!"

"Serves you right for playing dirty. If you ask me, the gladiators who defeated you should have killed you. You got off lucky," Ralis said.

Baeloth simply huffed, venting some of his anger, but he did not reply with words.

Two days later during nightfall, the group continued walking up the road, Boareskyr Bridge is now thirteen miles behind them, and to pass the time, they had conversations, including a few soldiers in the Flaming Fist coalition further back.

"I'll admit you are not without skill in combat, monk. Do not think that gives you license to challenge me," Dorn said to Rasaad.

Frowning incredulously, Rasaad looked up at the half-orc in disbelief. "Why would I want to? I have no quarrel with you," he assured the blackguard. "And in the matter of Caelar at least, we share a goal."

"I know your kind," Dorn scowled distrustfully at the monk as they walked alongside each other. "All who sanctimoniously embrace "goodness" salivate at the very idea of my death."

Rasaad felt pity for the half-orc, always second guessing the motives and intentions of the people he travels with. Living that life would be like staying wide awake in the middle of the night when you need sleep, knowing that the very moment you close your eyes, a predator nearby will take your life when you least expect it. Without sleep or peace, the ever vigilant mind can never relax.

"And those who walk the path of evil will never know peace. I can imagine no fate worse than that."

Dorn grunted at Rasaad's remark and reminded himself that peace is a lie, no one is ever truly safe, good or evil, it doesn't matter who, what, or what their alignment happens to be.

At the same time during Dorn and Rasaad's banter, Neera decided to chat with Viconia.

"So, Viconia. _Viiiconia_. Vicky. Can I call you Vicky?" She asked.

"Even you cannot be so foolish to ask this in earnest. Is this some ill-advised attempt at humor?" Viconia asked, gazing at Neera with a mildly annoyed glare.

"Viconia, then. Fine. In that case, you must call me Neera."

"... I have called you nothing else," Viconia said, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion.

 _You never called me anything,_ Neera remarked in her mind.

"Haven't you ever wanted to, though? Maybe "Neers"?" Neera flashed an innocent smile at the dark elf, showing her teeth.

"Definitely not," Viconia rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Peanut, doll, pinkie?"

"Your antics do not amuse me, girl. Begone."

Neera did as Viconia demanded and left her alone, moving further ahead, brushing past Minsc, Dynaheir, Baeloth, Rasaad, M'Khiin and Dorn, then the group walked across the road in complete silence for the next five hours.

"My f-friend? A m-moment of your time?" Khalid asked Ralis, breaking the silence at that time.

"Of course, Khalid. What is it?" Ralis asked him.

"Oh yes, well..." Khalid paused briefly, and broke eye contact with Ralis, staring down at his walking feet for a few seconds. "... What I meant to say is, h-how are you? Everything a-all right?"

"They'd be a better if you told me what you really want," Ralis said, sensing that Khalid has something personal to ask or tell him.

"Is it th-that obvious? I have a f-favor to ask of you. Jaheira and I told everyone we came north to r-rest. We were actually h-here on Harper business. Even so, I h-hoped we'd have some time to ourselves," Khalid admitted.

Ralis shook his head, coming to the realization that a Harper's work is never done. _Harpers are never able to actually have a day off after all,_ Ralis couldn't help but quietly chuckle. Out loud, he said: "This is riveting. Go on."

Khalid licked his lips first before speaking, as if something made him feel uneasy. "Our anniversary approaches. I want to give Jaheira a gift, one that shows her h-how much she means to me. C-could you find me silk from a giant spider?"

"Something from a giant spider will show Jaheira how much she means to you? I've got to ask, how much DOES she mean to you...?" Ralis asked, wondering why does Khalid need webs from a giant spider.

"When Jaheira and I met, I'd n-never left the city b-before. Never been out in the wilderness. Jaheira was horrified how little I knew of n-nature. She showed me how to follow animal tracks, identify plants... And she showed me a trick for curing s-spider silk. If I can get some, I can turn it into a beautiful, sparkling thread to weave her a necklace f-from," Khalid explained.

Ralis nodded to show he understood the significance of the spider silk. "All right, that doesn't sound nearly as terrible as it did at first. I'll try to track some down for you," he promised.

Before Khalid could thank Ralis for agreeing to help him, he noticed that there are several strings of webs stuck in Ralis' hair.

"Uh, Ralis, did you know you have some w-webs stuck to your hair?"

Confused, Ralis reached up with his right hand ant touched his hair. "Huh? No, I didn't," he admitted.

When he brushed his right hand through his hair three times, he looked into the palm of his right hand and saw several strings of hair resting on his hands.

"Huh. These must have stuck to my hair back when I was stuck in the spider webs back in that cave..." Ralis said.

"Y-you were stuck in spider webs?" Khalid asked in mild alarm.

"I, uh... had a near death situation. It's a long story. Here are the webs you need," Ralis handed the webs to Khalid.

"Th-thank you, my friend. We have to t-t-take the opportunity to show our affection when we can. None of us will live forever," Khalid said.

"Ain't that the truth? Sometimes I wonder if I will find the right woman," Ralis said.

"T-time will tell, my friend. Time will tell," Khalid assured him.

Corwin was listening to their entire conversation, and after she heard Khalid say that everyone should take the opportunity to show their affection to a loved one as soon as possible because no one lives forever, she realized that she cannot let her duties as a Flaming Fist captain separate her from her needs as a single mother forever, so she started thinking about having a married life with the hero himself, wondering how that might turn out. She could barely see how a married life with Ralis would turn out, with his heritage and all, but if he truly is a good person who is trustworthy and disobeys his murderous tendencies, she could imagine a future with him. Life would be easier for Rohma, at least, with a father figure around to support them. A famous father. Plus, Rohma might get a half brother or half sister before Corwin gets too old to endure the labor pains of giving birth to a new child. She flinched when her thoughts drifted to the possibility of having a child with the hero of Baldur's Gate. Does Ralis understand the hardships and responsibilities of being a parent? That is an answer she doesn't know yet, so she came up to Ralis with the intention of getting her question answered.

"Do you have any children, Ralis?" Corwin asked him.

Ralis looked at her in confusion, and Corwin silently cursed at herself, admitting to herself that was a very stupid question to ask him, because she has heard that he lived most of his life in Candlekeep, it is very unlikely he has met a woman that caught his interest there, the chances of him being a virgin are very high, but to her surprise, Ralis was not offended by the question in any way, just caught off guard a bit.

"No. Not yet, anyway. Someday, I hope, if I am lucky. Why do you ask?"

"Because there's nothing I wouldn't do for Rohma and my father. But the time my duties take me away from them, the risks the job carries with it... Sometimes I wonder if I've made the right decision. Is a full belly worth an absent mother?" Corwin said, her voice heavy with doubt and grief.

"You're asking the wrong man. I never knew my mother," Ralis said.

Corwin blinked in surprise, feeling a bit more guilty now. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a painful subject. It's just hard, with me away so often and Rohma's father not around. Sometimes I think she might have been better off if I'd left her on the steps of the Temple of the Radiant Hall, like her father wanted."

"No. She's lucky to have you as a mother. No one could replace you in her life," Ralis said, giving Corwin a comforting pat on her back.

Corwin shook her head. "How did we end up talking about this? Let's talk about something else- better still, let's not talk at all for a while, alright?"

Ralis nodded in agreement.

Khalid decided to talk to Corwin after she was finished speaking to Ralis.

"You're a fine fighter, C-Captain Corwin," he said to her, recalling how deft and lethal she is with her longbow back during the fight against the crusaders at Bridgefort.

"That's high praise, coming from someone who knows his way around a sword as well as you," Corwin replied.

"I trained with the city militia back in C-C-C-Calimport, dedicated warriors, all. Fighting for one's city inspires much d-d-devotion and courage."

"A city is just a bunch of buildings," Corwin admonished Khalid. "It's ideals that inspire people. Principles. That's why the crusade is going to be so much trouble."

Khalid now looked like he is at a loss of words, which he really is.

"... I see. I, uh... I... I'll just leave you to your t-thoughts, then."

* * *

Not long after that time, Ralis heard disagreements and arguments among the Flaming Fist coalition that sometimes flared up into fistfights. He couldn't clearly hear what the commotion was all about, but Corwin, who had to occasionally help Duncan and Nederlok break up fights between disagreeing Flaming Fist soldiers reported to Ralis that there are some soldiers who have polarizing beliefs about him. Those that believe Ralis is a child of Bhaal believe that he killed Sarevok because he was an obstacle in Ralis's agendas, whatever they may be, and there are soldiers who don't believe the rumors to be true, that Ralis is a noble and honorable person. The soldiers who think that Ralis is nothing more than a wolf disguised as a sheep get easily angered at the soldiers who don't believe Ralis is a Bhaalspawn, calling them naive and stupid, or worse, picking a fight against them. Ralis pitied those who are beginning to suspect his heritage. If they really wanted to know the truth, they could ask him, not antagonize their fellow soldiers who don't think he is anything like Sarevok. But maybe after seeing what happened at Boareskyr Bridge, very few of them are willing to personally speak to him, possibly out of fear of what he might be. Days pass, and everyone takes notice of signs of the crusade's recent presence on the long, grueling walk to Dragonspear Castle. They spotted a few crusader scouts a couple times, and obviously they invariably retreat on horseback, likely to reach Dragonspear Castle in the next few tendays and report to Caelar that the Flaming Fist coalition has made it through Boareskyr Bridge, and that all of the crusaders at Bridgefort, including the Barghest have been slain.

Night hours in the final month of the autumn season were a challenge to walk through, but the cool pre-winter air blowing at their faces felt a bit refreshing. But fortunately it is not snowing yet, and the new year known as the Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR) draws nearer and nearer each day. On the night when Corwin, Duncan and Nederlok decided to make a temporary campsite to rest, everyone including Safana, Skie and Ralis were happy to be able to sit in front of a campfire and warm up, and last but not least, get some well deserved sleep. More fights between disagreeing soldiers broke out in the temporary campsite, and though Ralis was tempted to, he chose not to get directly involved, letting Corwin and Duncan break up the fights. Thirteen days later since their departure from Boareskyr Bridge, the Flaming Fist coalition were beginning to strike up their temporary campsite that morning and continue on northwest towards Dragonspear Castle. Once back on the road again, Ralis walked alongside Neera.

"... So, back in Baldur's Gate almost two months ago, Corwin told me that she had heard reports that there have been some fires up north when I asked her about your whereabouts. Was that your wild magic that started those fires, Neera?" Ralis asked her.

"No!" Neera blurted out. "I mean, maybe. Forest fires happen naturally, right?"

"Not all the time," Jaheira interjected.

"If there were forest fires in the vicinity, it had nothing to do with me, I swear!" Neera said defensively.

"Are you sure? Wild magic does sound wild simply by its name," Glint said stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"A wild mage? We are in the company of a wild mage?" Baeloth perked up in amusement, looking around until he noticed Neera to his left, and she looked at him.

"What? Did the pink hair give it away?" She asked him with a nervously innocent smile.

"Ho ho! You travel in the company of interesting women, friend Ralis! I am enjoying the company of your group more and more each day, ja!" Voghiln exclaimed.

"Uh... thanks, Voghiln," Ralis said, unsure of what to say.

Neera looked back at Voghiln behind her, who is looking down at her buttocks as they were walking.

"Uh, who is this bearded guy behind me? And why is he staring at my rear end?" Neera asked, pointing back at Voghiln behind her.

"Oh, sorry! Neera, allow me to introduce you to Voghiln. Voghiln, this is Neera."

"A pleasure to meet such a beautiful elven lass with pink hair, _ja_ ," Voghiln said.

Neera huffed. "Look, buddy, I'm a half-elf. That means I am part elf, part human. Try to remember that, please?"

" _Ja, ja,_ it is no problem, Voghiln has excellent memory skills," Voghiln nodded.

"Perhaps if you learn to meditate, you would start fewer fires," Rasaad suggested.

Neera grunted in irritation. "No one's ever gonna let the fire thing go, are they? Alright, I burn things, it happens!"

"Most refrain from setting their setting their own dwellings aflame when preparing a repast," Rasaad replied to Neera.

"Most people live in fear and misery. Maybe they should set their houses on fire to make dinner. Ever think of that?"

Rasaad frowned slightly, thinking over what Neera said for a few seconds. He couldn't see the logic behind it, but it shouldn't hurt to humor her.

"I admit, I had not," he admitted, his eyebrows arching up as if Neera gave him an idea he never thought of before.

"I think you may be onto something, Neera," Glint jumped in the conversation. "What about, uh, uh, a fire box? Something that continually emits fireballs? You could bake a potato in no time!"

At that moment Khalid noticed that Viconia is not only with them, but also Baeloth.

"T-t-two dark elves now? Ralis, what are you thinking? Are you out of your mind?"

"If we want to defeat Caelar, its a bad idea to turn away allies just because their race has a bad reputation," Ralis said.

Khalid shook his head. "Sometimes I wish I understood how you think," he said.

"You notice us, but fail to acknowledge the goblin?" Viconia called to Khalid.

"Give it a rest, Viconia," Ralis called back. "Khalid is just not used to working with people who might stab him in the back. Right, Khalid?"

"Uh, y-yes, that's is correct," Khalid nodded in agreement, then looked over his shoulder at Viconia and said to her: "Keep your distance, drow."

"I am merely walking, _abban_ ( _ally_ ). No need for alarm," Viconia assured Khalid.

"You should know I d-don't trust you. I'm p-prepared to defend myself," Khalid warned her.

"From what?" Viconia asked, her expression feigning mildly innocent confusion. "I have no desire to harm you. Our goals are aligned..." Then she smirked. "... for the moment," she added with the mischievous smirk.

"It's the m-moments they aren't that worries me," Khalid admitted.

Viconia rolled her eyes in disgust, she was only teasing the half-elf. Even when their goals aren't aligned anymore she won't have any apparent reasons to harm him, he should know that. Socializing with people who don't think alike can be very uncomfortable and troublesome. But when Viconia looked over at M'Khiin walking close by her, she looked back into what little she knew about goblin culture, and she realized of all the surface races in Faerun, goblin culture has much in common with drow culture. Goblins are taught from birth to rely on themselves and no one else in their fight for survival, and that being aggressive and ruthless is paramount to staying alive.

"Of all the surfacers here, I think you are the most likely to understand me," Viconia said to M'Khiin as soon as they made eye contact.

"Don't know anything about dark elves," M'Khiin replied.

"You can count yourself lucky for that," Corwin chimed in.

Viconia shook her head in disgust before continuing to speak to the goblin.

"Humans and their ilk hate and persecute us. We were both born to vicious societies, with the strongest and most ruthless ruling over the weak," Viconia said with dark, callous pride in her voice.

M'Khiin nodded in agreement, knowing the harsh, unforgiving culture of her people all too well. "Sounds like my tribe," she said.

"The cringing males creep in our shadows, while the women run our great cities," Viconia continued, the brooding, prideful tone of her voice remains unchanged.

"... Except for that part," M'Khiin said, knowing that male goblins are usually dominant, sustaining their tribe by robbing, pillaging and stealing from rival goblin tribes or human farmers, and small towns.

"I never thought I'd see the d-day when I'd stand shoulder to shoulder with a g-g-goblin," Khalid said a minute later after M'Khiin was done speaking to Viconia.

"Shoulder only comes up to your stomach. You're standing stomach to shoulder with a goblin," M'Khiin corrected him.

Ralis couldn't help snickering at Khalid when she said that.

"You know what I mean," Khalid said in a flustered manner to the goblin.

"I know what you said. It was wrong."

"I'm starting to s-see why I never stood stomach to shoulder with a g-g-goblin before."

* * *

The few crusader scouts that Ralis and his group encountered along the very long trip to the coalition camp invariably retreated on horseback, likely to report to Caelar at Dragonspear Castle about the her of Baldur's Gate successfully crossing Boareskyr Bridge. A few tendays later, in the first month of new year, the scouts arrived at Dragonspear Castle ten days ahead of the hero of Baldur's Gate and the Flaming Fist coalition army, and requested to relay their report directly to Caelar Argent herself. They found Caelar at the top of the damaged, decrepit castle's inner walls, close to the tail bone of Halatathlaer's skeleton draped over the ruined castle's structure, looking down at the large, bustling population of crusader soldiers in the outer ward in deep thought.

The scouts informed her that the hero of Baldur's Gate and the Flaming Fist coalition accompanying him have successfully crossed Boareskyr Bridge, but they were almost reluctant to tell her that all the crusaders stationed at Bridgefort have no doubt been slain, including the Barghest. After relaying the bitter information, Caelar solemnly congratulated them on bringing her up to speed about Ralis' progression, and dismissed them. Now she continued to look down at the outer ward grounds, feeling confusion and frustration bubbling up deep down in her body. From what she has heard about the hero of Baldur's Gate, he saved the city from the nefarious agendas of his half brother Sarevok Anchev, and from what she has learned from him during their conversation back at the Coast Way Crossing bridge many tendays ago, Ralis Rutela is most definitely not evil, he has noble intentions like she does... but regardless of that, they are not allies, they fight as if they are enemies, and that frustrated and enraged Caelar so much, her hands curled into fists, she closed her eyes and she felt warm tears around her eyeballs. It just does not make sense! How can two noble people who should become allies end up becoming enemies? It defies her logic.

"Why does he still refuse me? How can he deny the righteousness of our cause?" Caelar asked herself as if she knew the answer, restraining the urge to punch something or someone.

At that moment she heard footsteps approaching. Caelar opened here eyes, allowing the tears held under her eyelids to fall down her face, and she looked over her left shoulder and saw Adras Ashatiel standing three feet behind her, appearing majestic with her magical angelic wings attached to her back making her look like an avariel, even though she is human. The mythical avariel, a race of elves that have wings like angels and can fly, have been extinct, or at least believed to be extinct ever since the time when the destruction caused by The Sundering before the First Flowering changed the face of Toril. Despite her awe striking appearance, Adras also looked lethal with her sword sheathed in her scabbard and clad in form fitting magically enhanced plate mail armor, and her eyes stern and serious.

"We speak of a child of Bhaal," she said in a curt tone.

Caelar nodded in agreement. "And yet the Bhaalspawn is the hero of Baldur's Gate- and by all accounts, saved the Sword Coast from ruin during the iron crisis," she said, reminding the woman of Ralis' noble deeds.

Ashatiel knew what Caelar is trying to say; she is trying to say judge the hero of Baldur's Gate by his deeds, not his bloodline, and she did not appreciate that.

"You cannot ask me to show mercy to this abomination, not after what happened to my brother," Ashatiel retorted, her scowling face wrinkling with displeasure and turning her head to the right and looking down as if ashamed at Caelar.

Caelar knew about Adras Ashatiel's vendetta against the Bhaalspawn. Her brother Arran Ashatiel was an aspiring businessman before he was slain. When he was ten years old, he expressed deep interest in following his family tradition of becoming a respected, if not important businessman in Waterdeep, studying the family trade business extensively for years even though he was the youngest heir to the line compared to his sister. Adras admired his sharp wit and determination. And now his life had been quickly snuffed out as soon as his childhood dream had been made a reality. Many months ago, when the iron crisis was still happening, Arran had been personally called to the Iron Throne branch in Baldur's Gate for an important business meeting with the Iron Throne leaders. A day later after his arrival in Baldur's Gate, the city watch found what was left of his body on the ground outside the Iron Throne HQ. They managed to identify Arran by his body armor, since much of his skin and flesh seem to have been burned away. During the investigation into his death, the Flaming Fist and city watch noted signs that he had fallen off the roof of the Iron Throne headquarters building. When the Iron Throne leaders were interviewed during the investigation, they claimed that Arran's death was an accident, and official reports did not have enough evidence to prove otherwise, so they closed the investigation into Arran's death claiming that he accidentally fell off the roof, but Adras didn't believe the official reports, there are several discrepancies that she could not ignore.

What was Arran doing on the roof of the Iron Throne building in the first place? How could he fall off the roof by accident? Especially when the edges of the roof are protected by a small fence of thin metal bars? It would take more than a drunk person to fall off that roof, and to Adras' knowledge, and Arran was not an alcoholic, he never was. And there is also the state of his corpse. It takes months or years for skin and flesh to decompose, yet Arran's body seems to have mostly been burned away somehow, making identifying him almost very difficult for the Flaming Fist. There are signs of foul play covered up, and she felt it in her bones. A child of Bhaal who worked with the Iron Throne murdered her brother, throwing him off the roof, contrary to what the official reports said. The fact that her brother's killer, Sarevok, had been slain is no comfort to Ashatiel at all. Ever since she heard that Ralis had killed her brother's killer, she has sharpened her skills with a sword which have for the past few years been honed ever since she joined the armed forces of Waterdeep a few years ago, and she learned how to get magical wings like the spelljamming adventurer Jasmine who also lives in Waterdeep. Though Ralis is not the one who killed her brother, Adras still holds him at fault possibly because he is blood related to the man who is the true killer. Though Caelar understood Adras' emotions, she could not understand why Ashatiel wants to slay Ralis so badly even though he is not the Bhaalspawn who killed her brother. More importantly, she cannot let Ashatiel's vengeful desires to interfere with the mission of the crusade. Ralis is not supposed to die, he is too important to Caelar's cause.

"For the good of the crusade, you must. We cannot take the Bhaalspawn's life," Caelar consoled the winged woman.

Once again, Ashatiel could not look Caelar into her shining eyes.

"Forgive me, my lady. I do not know if I can do that," she said apologetically, but the tone of her voice is almost sharp as a razor.

"You can. I have faith in you, Ashatiel. For us, forgiveness must prevail over revenge," Caelar said, her calm voice brimming with confidence that seemed to soothe Ashatiel's anger-consumed soul a little.

Ashatiel nodded then turned her back on Caelar, heading for the nearest stairway to descend back down into the castle. Ashatiel has immense respect for Caelar Argent, and she knew that the mission of the crusade must take priority over her vendetta, but Caelar doesn't understand. She strongly believes in redemption and forgiveness, and that makes her blind to the reprehensible nature of the Bhaalspawn. The children of Bhaal are bloodthirsty monsters with no conscience, unable to feel pity and remorse, who gain pleasure from committing acts of murder for no particular reason, and Ashatiel will see to it that Ralis and any other child of Bhaal she encounters are sent back to the Nine Hells where they came from.

* * *

It felt like thirty tendays from Ralis' point of view to get from Bridgefort to the coalition camp where the armies of Waterdeep and Daggerford are waiting for the Flaming Fist armies to show up. But in reality, it actually took less than thirty tendays, more like nine. That means it is no longer the Year of The Banner anymore. The new year has arrived, the Year of the Gauntlet. It is the evening of the 28th day of Hammer, 1369 DR, the first month of the winter season, and the coalition camp is off the road directly south from Dragonspear Castle, towards Trollbark Forest. Corwin noticed more than hundreds of footprints ahead of them going off the road to the left, and they followed the footprints away from the road for a mile until they found the coalition camp. The first thing they saw were the banners of the three armies (or the cities they come from) outside the campsite, the Flaming Fist banner, a red burning fist surrounded by fire, Waterdeep's city banner, a crescent moon shaped like the letter "U" over mountain peaks in the background and a lake in the foreground showing the moon's reflection, and last but not least, Daggerford's banner, a steel dagger, the blade pointing down towards the ground anchored into the soil 22 feet ahead from the coalition camp which is protected by a ten foot wall of wooden stakes, and guarded by four men at the entrance, two of the guards are with the Daggerford military, evidenced by the emblem of the dagger on the breastplate of their body armor, and the other two guards are of Waterdeep's military force.

It didn't take them long to notice Ralis, his while party and the Flaming Fist army behind them coming their way, and two of the Waterdeep guards rushed into the campsite to inform their leaders that the Flaming Fist army has finally arrived. As one of the Daggerford guards approached them, Nederlok and Duncan walked ahead of Ralis and the others to greet the guard.

"Sergeant Wilch of the Daggerford military!" The guard gave Duncan and Nederlok a formal salute.

"At ease, sergeant. Corporal Duncan of the Flaming Fist, and I am Marshal Nederlok."

Wilch paused and looked at the large groups of people behind Duncan and Nederlok.

"You are a sight for sore eyes! It is damn good to see the Flaming Fist finally arrive!" Wilch said, smiling in relief.

"We have had a hell of a rough time getting here," Ralis said to Wilch.

"I bet you have. Who are you, exactly?" Wilch replied, not recognizing Ralis.

"I guess you haven't heard. Sergeant Wilch, this is Ralis Rutela, the man responsible for ending the iron crisis. He is famously known as the hero of Baldur's Gate," Duncan introduced them.

" _Alleged_ hero of Baldur's Gate," A Flaming Fist soldier blurted out coldly.

"Can it, soldier!" Duncan snapped.

"That's what they call me. what the nice ones call me, at any rate," Ralis admitted to Wilch.

Wilch nodded at Ralis, then looked over Ralis' left shoulder at the Flaming fist soldiers and mercenaries behind him, then he pursed his lips, sensing the tension among them. "Did something happen along the way?" He asked.

Nederlok signaled to Ralis to follow him so they can speak in private. Ralis was concerned about why Nederlok wanted to speak to him in private, but deep down, he knew it was about what happened at Boareskyr Bridge. Once Nederlok and Ralis were eight feet away from everyone, Nederlok whispered to him:

"Once everyone in the camp learns about what happened at Boreskyr Bridge, they won't be very trusting towards you. Already many- too many of my men see you as Sarevok's heir apparent."

Ralis felt dismayed, but he tried to hide some of his depression from Nederlok. "Of course they do. Why wouldn't they? I only risked my life to save the Sword Coast from his diabolical machinations," he said with mild sarcasm.

"The lazy remember only remember that which is most convenient," Dorn said to Ralis.

Nederlok somehow saw Ralis' true feelings, possibly by looking into his sullen, tired eyes. Nederlok pitied the young man. He has a gut feeling that Ralis is indeed different from Sarevok, and his gut instinct comes from years serving the Flaming Fist and gauging the the motives and intentions of people. Unlike Corwin, he believes that bloodlines do not determine the personality and ethics of a person.

"If anyone gives you trouble, report it to me. I'll take care of it. You should go get some rest. I'll come get you tomorrow morning for a meeting with the commanders." Nederlok whispered to Ralis.

After hearing Nederlok's words, Ralis understood the meaning behind them. It means that Nederlok, regardless of whether he believes Ralis is a child of Bhaal or not, will defend him from scrutiny because he believes that Ralis is a noble man regardless of his heritage. Feeling relieved, he followed Nederlok back towards Wilch, Corwin and Duncan.

"All right, get settled in. We have a long day tomorrow," Wilch announced, then he permitted everyone to walk into the siege camp.

Ralis, Corwin, Minsc, Dynaheir and Duncan were among the first people to come inside the camp, and Ralis was not surprised to see that the siege camp is not so different from the tent community near Bridgefort, having over 700 tents in one location. What really surprised him is the sheer number soldiers, mercenaries and adventurers from Waterdeep and Daggerford in this place.

"Wow. So many people here..." Neera said.

"There must be more than six hundred people here in this camp. In addition to the Flaming Fist we must number close to nine hundred, now," Corwin stated while all the Flaming Fist soldiers entered the camp and spread out among the groups and crowds of people in the camp.

"It has been a long, harsh road, but we made it, thanks to you," Raypheus said to Ralis.

All Ralis did was nod at him appreciatively, then he set off southwest, unknowingly splitting up from Corwin and his party, but they didn't notice either, all new arrivals are looking for a good place to rest, especially Safana. As he searched for a tent meant for someone to rest in, Ralis heard all manner of conversation around him. Some were casual, others were about the upcoming fight against Caelar Argent's crusaders. And some officers of Daggerford and Waterdeep's military forces were doing weapon drills with inexperienced soldiers and adventurers. He heard one woman nearby exclaim:

" _What a bunch of pathetic babies! I've never seen a worse lot in my entire career!"_

Ralis looked around for the source of the voice, and in an open space near a green striped tent close to where Belegarm is setting up his own tent, he saw a woman wearing a helmet berating a group of six rookie soldiers from Daggerford. She is most likely an officer of Waterdeep or Daggerford's military, he can't tell since he can't see the emblem of the city she is from on her breastplate from behind. The woman drilling the rookie adventurers is Vigilant Halasan, of Waterdeep's military. She fought in the second Dragonspear War as a soldier of 3rd Company. Since Halasan served under Frey Silverblade, who expected to command soldiers with adequate combat experience, it is no surprise that Halasan is severely frustrated at how inept her recruits are in combat.

As Ralis approached her from behind, Halasan exclaimed to her demoralized recruits: " _Do you think the crusaders are gonna hold their swords back because of those sad puppy dog eyes you're giving me?_ _if that's what you believe, then you are an even sadder bunch of babies than I thought!"_

"Troubles, Vigilant?" Ralis asked her when he got close enough.

Halasan turned around and nodded curtly, scowling in disapproval. Ralis could see in her emerald eyes the irritation she has at the lack of progress in training these new recruits.

"You said it. They're a Daggerford detail- not used to the experience and discipline we get in Waterdeep," she explained.

"Do you think you are able to whip them in shape?" Ralis asked.

"I'm doing my best, but I've other duties to attend to. This lot might have to get by on their own. I'd love to send them back to Daggerford but we need every soldier we can get. Even ones as useless as these."

Ralis suddenly had an idea. He had never trained anyone in combat before, it might work. "Why don't I take over training for a bit? I certainly can't make them any worse,. I'm Ralis Rutela, by the way."

Halasan gasped in awe. "You're the hero of Baldur's Gate. ... Well, sure, why not? Be my guest," she said, then stepped aside from Ralis a few steps.

Ralis rubbed his hands together as he took a few steps closer to the recruits.

"Well, introductions are in order. I am Ralis Rutela, the hero of Baldur's Gate. I have volunteered to be your substitute drill instructor."

"Wow...! It's him! My name is Taield. It is an honor to meet you, sir," the man armed with a longsword said.

"I-I-I am Garrold," the other man who seems to be a cleric said, because he is armed with a mace.

"My name is Morlis," another man who is slightly taller than Taield but having more broader shoulders said.

"I am called Hester," one of the few human woman in the group said, who also happens to be armed with a lightweight crossbow and short sword.

"A pleasure, hero. I am Danine," the second human woman in the group of recruits said.

"I am Clovista. A pleasure to meet ye," the halfling woman said.

"The pleasure is all mine. Now, the first thing I want to do is see your fighting styles firsthand. Taield!"

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to spar with Garrold. I will judge how the both of you fight in combat," Ralis replied.

"Very well," Taield said with a shrug, then approached Garrold, drawing his sword out. Garrold drew his mace out, and Moril, Hester, Danine and Clovista backed away, giving them some space. Taield and Garrold circled each other for a few seconds, then Taield came at Garrold with a stab, and Garrold dodged. They circled each other again for another few seconds trying to anticipate what move they would make, then Taield slashed at Garrold, and he crouched, then Taield followed up with another stab that Garrold dodged. As the sparring progressed, Ralis noticed something unique about Garrold's fighting style. He does not attack as often as Taield does, he only does it at opportune moments, but there is a flaw there. His attacks are repetitive, easy to read.

"All right, break!" Ralis shouted.

Taield and Garrold dropped their fighting stances, breathing heavily. Taield looked over at Ralis, wiped his sweaty forehead and asked: "How am I doing, sir?"

"You're not here to impress me, you are here to survive and protect this land. I expect you to sharpen up your sword-fighting skills," Ralis admonished the man, crossing his arms and giving him a stern scowl, then he turned his attention to Garrold. "You! Garrold!"

"Yes, sir?"

"I've been watching your combat style, and I've noticed something interesting about you. You are good at memorizing your opponent's attack patterns. That's one ability I want you to improve on, but you fail to create your own attack patterns. You got the basic forms, but you're pathetically repetitive. If Taield were a more experienced soldier, he would have easily taken advantage of your weakness. I want you to cover your weakness by coming up with a few variant attack forms and cycle through them on the battlefield."

"I'll try to remember that, sir. Thank you!" Garrold exclaimed with a relieved smile.

Ralis realized that all some of these recruits needed was someone to evaluate their skills and teach them to improve their positive parts and cover their weaknesses as much as possible.

"Good! Spar again!" Ralis shot back.

Taield and Garrold began sparring again, and as they sparred, Ralis glanced over at Vigilant Halasan and he thought he saw a faint smile on her lips. He also noticed that a few other people have taken notice, watching the hero of Baldur's Gate train the newbie soldiers from Daggerford. Ralis turned his attention to Morlis and Hester next, having them spar against each other, and it didn't take long for Ralis to see that Morlis is a very aggressive fighter, having the potential to go berserk like Minsc, and he convinced Morlis to control his temper in the battlefield otherwise he will become a danger to his allies as much as his enemies. As for Hester, Ralis noticed that she became easily terrified at Morlis' ferocity in battle, she tried to keep her distance from him and pelt him with practice crossbow bolts, she never used her sword against him, so he stopped the battle and decided to give her a little pep talk.

"Hester, why weren't you using your sword?" Ralis asked her.

Hester blinked nervously. "Uh, my weapon seems to be broken. Maybe you could train one of the other recruits and get back to me?"

Ralis snorted in derision.

"Try asking the enemy to come back when you are ready. See how far that gets you," he scolded her.

Halasan laughed.

"Yes sir. Sorry sir," Hester hung her head down slightly in shame.

"Listen, soldier. Everyone must face their fears in life sooner or later. Take me, for example. I was trained fight, but I lived behind the walls of Candlekeep most of my life. The first time I killed a man, I did it to save my life. I knew that he was more ruthless than me, I knew that I could not ask him to leave me alone or wait until I'm ready, I knew that one of us had to go, either me, or him, and I made damn sure it wouldn't be me. In battle, it is not just you against your opponent, it is you against you."

"Me against me?" Hester repeated.

"Yes, exactly. The enemy in front of you is just an obstacle in your way. Get him out of your way!"

"I'll try, sir," Hester promised, then continued sparring against Morlis, and to Halasan and Ralis' surprise, Hester had a bit more courage facing Morlis, and Morlis fought with controlled aggressiveness now.

"Hmm. Impressive. They are improving," Ralis heard Halasan say to herself.

More and more people came by to watch the hero of Baldur's Gate train the recruits, and so far, everyone seemed impressed. Next, Ralis had Danine and Clovista spar against each other. Ralis noted that Danine is very tentative in her attacks and moves around too much, expecting to dodge an attack when no attack is coming. Ralis suggested Danine to try weaving in place instead of skipping, because skipping will get her fatigued more quickly. As for Clovista, since she is the shortest person in the group, she must change up her fighting strategy in a different way, fight smarter, not harder. Ralis noted that she tends to strike at heavily armored areas. He suggested that she should aim for the joints, making disabling blows instead of outright trying to kill the enemy would better conserve her energy.

After training all six recruits, Ralis approached Halasan. "Well? What do you think?"

"They're better than they were, I'll give you that. Not amazing, but better," she admitted to Ralis, nodding approvingly.

The crowds of people watching Ralis train the recruits cheered.

Ralis looked over at the crowd and smiled.

"You did a good job. I didn't think you could do it, but you made a difference here," Halasan said.

"It's all part of the service," Ralis said, turning back to face her.

"So our famous hero is not only an adept teacher, but also a modest one. That is good to see," a voice behind Ralis said.

He turned back around towards the cheering crowd to see an elf man standing near him. The elf is dressed in dark green +2 studded leather armor with a hood over his head, he has a sword sheathed to his left side, and a special heavy crossbow attached to his back.

"Who are you?" Ralis asked the elf.

"My name is Jovan Goldmarsh, from the High Forest, but now I live in Daggerford." The elf then extended his right hand out for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Jovan. I am Ralis Rutela." Ralis shook Jovan's hand tentatively.

"I know who you are. Everyone knows. You are the hero of Baldur's Gate. The young man who unexpectedly put an end to the iron crisis plaguing the Sword Coast," Jovan said with a warm smile.

Ralis shook his head. "You have me at a disadvantage. You seem to know a lot about me, but I know very little about you.

"Well then, let's rectify that, shall we?" Jovan offered, gesturing to Ralis to follow him.

Ralis shrugged and followed Jovan towards the crowd. The people parted away, allowing Jovan and Ralis to pass through, then they went on with their business.

* * *

As Ralis walked alongside Jovan, he noticed that the elf walks in a confident free-spirited manner, as if free from all worries and strife.

"You don't wear the body armor of a Daggerford soldier. Are you an adventurer seeking gold or glory or something?" Ralis asked.

"Oh, I am not looking for either of those things, my friend," Jovan replied, looking up at the evening sky as the orange sky slowly dimmed into the dark night sky, and already Daggerford, Waterdeep and Flaming Fist soldiers are lighting torches all over the campsite providing some light in the night.

"So why are you here?" Ralis asked.

Jovan looked at Ralis and smirked. "The thrill of adventure," he said.

Ralis frowned in confusion. "If you are looking for thrills, you have come to the wrong place, Jovan."

"I have experienced thrills like this many times before. I am 322 years old, believe it or not. A couple centuries ago, I've lived part of my life in misery, because I lost someone dear to me. But after an adventure I had in Icewind Dale long before you were born, I've learned to look at life as an adventure, a road with twists and turns you might not expect to come across."

"That's a sort of... chaotic way to view life," Ralis said uneasily.

"Isn't it? The interesting thing about life is you never know what comes up next. It might give you great sorrow or happiness. In my case, it has given me much happiness. I have a wife and two beautiful children. And it is all thanks to an adventure I've had in Icewind Dale 88 years ago."

Ralis stroked his chin in thought. This Jovan sounds very interesting. Whatever happened in Icewind Dale decades ago had a very positive effect on his outlook on life.

"Sounds interesting. Would you like to tell me the story of your adventure in Icewind Dale? I mean, if you remember anything about it," Ralis asked.

Jovan chuckled. "Ralis, I would be more than happy to tell you about that time."

"Can you tell me about it early tomorrow morning? I need to get some rest first. Getting here has been like walking through hell," Ralis said.

"Of course," Jovan said courteously.

A few minutes later, Ralis found Thaird in the section of the siege camp where the Flaming Fist armies have set up their tents, and Ralis fell asleep in his tent, with Jovan sleeping in a tent next to his even though Jovan is one of the hired adventurers with the Daggerford military.

* * *

Another dream haunted him this night. This time, in the dream, Ralis found himself in the bedroom of Corwin's daughter, Rohma. He saw Corwin in front of him sitting on a wooden chair next to Rohma's bed, reading a book to her. Corwin is not in her body armor, she is wearing pajamas, and so is Rohma, even though most of her body is concealed under the bed sheets. When he looked to his right, he saw the hooded man standing next to him, watching Corwin reading the story to her daughter. The story is about a princess who is pressured by her mother to surrender her crown as princess and accept the crown of being a queen and take on the responsibilities that come with being a queen. The princess refuses to to surrender her crown and embrace the duties of being a queen, but her mother made it clear that this fate cannot be avoided.

"... The queen does not relent," Corwin said, reading what is written in the book. ""You must surrender the crown." she says, "or the worst will come.""

Rohma sat up in her bed, looking at Corwin with a puzzled frown. "Does she have to give up the crown?" She asked her mother. "Why can't she just stay a princess?"

"Duty," Corwin replied. "Duty compels us, above all else."

Then immediately after that, Rohma disappeared in a puff of smoke, as if she never existed, and Corwin did not react to her daughter's sudden disappearance.

"Do you see, Ralis? Do you understand now?" The hooded man asked him.

Ralis didn't fully understand, but the lesson the hooded man is trying to teach to Ralis is that for better or worse, it is best to give in to what fate has in store for him. Trying to foresee the the negative outcomes of giving in to fate is meaningless, because defying fate's plans only leads to fruitless struggles and pain, like a parent dragging a stubborn child to a destination the child does not want to go to.

"My duty is done," Corwin said to herself, closing the book shut and slowly standing up on her legs. "The consequences are all that remain."

"Understanding is not required. You are compelled." The hooded man said to Ralis. "Let us try this one more time..."

After he said that, Corwin turned to face Ralis, then suddenly transformed into that bright red blurry demonic creature that Ralis has seen Sarevok and Imoen become in his previous nightmares and she mauled him.

* * *

Ralis woke up sweating, sitting up on his bedroll. He calmed his breathing and looked around, realizing that he is in his tent, that it was only another nightmare.

"Bad dream?" He heard a voice nearby say. Ralis turned to face the exit of his tent and saw Jovan peering in.

"Oh, Jovan, it's you. Come in." Ralis sighed in relief and wiped sweat off his forehead.

Jovan stepped into the tent and sat next to his human friend.

"What time is it?" Ralis asked the elf.

"It is morning. The sun should be rising up in a couple hours," Jovan replied.

Ralis nodded, and he started to say something, but he closed his mouth and turned his head away from Jovan.

"Is something wrong?" Jovan asked, wondering why Ralis chose not to speak.

"It's nothing. Just tell me your story while we still have time," Ralis said.

Jovan nodded. "Very well," he said then he cleared his throat.

"My name is Jovan Goldmarsh. I am a half sun elf, half wood elf hailing from the High Forest, and I have been an adventurer for nearly two centuries. I still have not seen everything Faerun has to offer me, and that is what I love about adventuring- there's no shortage of brand new experiences. When I was but a child, sheltered by my parents and older siblings, I somehow instinctively knew that the world outside the High Forest is much bigger, filled with many interesting creatures both beautiful and repulsive, friendly and hostile. When I grew older, a friend of my father, who is a ranger of Silvanus, also trained me to be a Ranger of Silvanus, and when I was prepared to leave my hometown, the first town or city I ever visited was Silverymoon. Much of my travels and adventures took place in the north, I've never been far south to Calimshan before. Long ago, however, I lost almost all of my love and zeal for adventuring. Let me just say that adventuring is not always full of wonder, discovery and romance, but also tragic losses. Right now, I'm going to tell my most recent story to you, which took place in Icewind Dale, a region that I don't visit very often. On my visit to one of the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, called Easthaven, I had been asked to go on an expedition with a dozen other adventurers. And so, this is where my story begins, in a time long before Time of Troubles, before the legendary dark elf ranger hero, Drizzt Do'Urden made his presence known above the Underdark, the month of Mirtul in the Year of the Cold Soul, 1281 DR is the time when the story I am about to tell you took place. This is not just my story, though, this story also belongs to the people I traveled with, in an epic adventure we will never forget."

For the next two hours, Jovan told Ralis a tale about his adventures in Icewind Dale 88 years ago. He told the young man how he met his companions he traveled with during his adventures in Icewind Dale, Gorris, a young but strong barbarian belonging to the Tribe of the Bear in Icewind Dale, Andy, a human mage from Neverwinter, Felicia, a half-elf bard, Ordmar, a dwarven defender, Lysara, a halfling thief adopted by Ordmar, and Xalorn, a half-orc barbarian born from the union of a human man and a orc woman raised among Gorris' people, and how together they defeated long forgotten threats of Icewind Dale many decades ago. They were tasked to go on an expedition to a village inside the Spine of the World mountains called Kuldahar to investigate a disturbance. The man leading the expedition, Hrothgar, put together a large group of adventurers to come with him to investigate the disturbance plaguing the town, but in an ambush they never expected, Hrothgar and most of the expedition died in the avalanche at Kuldahar Pass caused by frost giants, but Jovan, Gorris, Andy, Xalorn, Ordmar, Lysara and Felicia survived and made it to Kuldahar, continuing on the mission Hrothgar tasked them to be part of.

Through a series of investigations assisted by a druid named Arundel, Jovan and his companions eventually learned that the only way to pinpoint the source of the disturbances in Kuldahar is by retrieving the Heartstone Gem, but the gem was confiscated by a marilith called Yxunomei, who was partly to blame for the disturbances in Kuldahar, kidnapping citizens, turning them into yuan-ti thralls for the purposes of creating a shock troop army against her old rival. Jovan and his companions fought and killed Yxunomei, retrieved the Heartstone Gem, and freed the kidnapped Kuldahar citizens, but when they returned, Yxunomei's rival led an orog army into Kuldahar, assassinated Arundel and disappeared, believing that Jovan and the others have lost, since Arundel was believed to be the only druid left who knew how to use the Heartstone Gem, but Arundel with his dying breath told them to go to the ruins of an elven fortress called The Severed Hand. There, they met the spirit of an elf that still lingered there, tormented by a mythal that caused him to be driven insane by the alleged betrayal of the dwarves of Dorn's Deep called Larrel who could use the Heartstone Gem to discover where to find the individual responsible for Kuldahar's woes. After shutting down the mythal around the fortress, Larrel was released from his torment to help Jovan and his party use the Heartstone Gem to learn the whereabouts of Yxunomei's rival.

Jovan and his companions went to a long abandoned underground dwarven city called Dorn's Deep. There they discovered not only that the dwarves of Dorn's Deep were innocent in The Severed Hand's fall (a drow named Nym stole and sold the weapons and armor forged by the elves and dwarves to orc and goblin armies), but also that the identity of Yxunomei's rival was a demon disguised as a human priest of Ilmater who went by the title and name "Revered Brother Poquelin". When Ralis heard the name, his mind briefly flashed back to Hephernaan, recalling that he has the exact same title as Poquelin did. Is there a connection there? Anyway, Jovan explained to Ralis that he and his companions systematically defeated six of Poquelin's trusted lieutenants throughout Dorn's Deep to obtain their badges to get into Poquelin's chambers (the elf woman Ilmadia survived long enough to give birth to Poquelin's twin children Isair and Madae who grew up to become the next threat to Icewind Dale 31 years later in 1312 DR but were destroyed by Jovan and Felicia's twin children Oliver and Ilivia). They confronted Poquelin himself, who revealed that he along with Yxunomei had been exiled to the mortal plane by their superior demons because their petty rivalry was causing too much trouble in the Nine Hells. After being exiled, and finding himself in the cold region of Icewind Dale, Poquelin heard the calls of Crenshinibon from a distant glacier and found it, the very same Crystal Shard that exiled Luskan mage Akar Kessel used to attack Icewind Dale decades later in 1356 DR before he was thwarted and destroyed by the drow ranger hero Drizzt Do'Urden and his allies. With the Crystal Shard, Poquelin created his own army, dominating the minds of creatures like orcs, goblins, bringing certain evil individuals to him to be his lieutenants, Malavon, Marketh, Joril, Krilag and Ilmadia (Poquelin also managed to brainwash a true priest of Ilmater named Perdiem), and created a crystal tower in Easthaven.

Jovan and his companions returned to Easthaven and infiltrated the crystal tower created by Crenshinibon, and from there reached the room where Jerrod's Stone was held in the basement of the temple of Tempus. Poquelin destroyed the stone, opening the portal to allow his demon brethren to pour through, but a priest of Tempus, Everard, sacrificed his life to reseal the portal, finally coming to the realization that Jerrod's sacrifice was not out of cowardice. Angered by the priest's sacrifice, Poquelin fought Jovan and his party in his true form and name, Belhifet. He fought viciously, but in the end, Jovan and his party overwhelmed and killed him, his soul sent back to the Abyss where he must remain for the next 100 years before he gains enough strength to return to the mortal plane without walking through a dimensional portal like the one Jerrod's Stone blocked. That means it has been 88 years since Belhifet's defeat. Twelve more years remain before his physical body gains enough strength to manifest on the mortal plane again. As for the crystal tower, it collapsed, and Crenshinibon went missing and undiscovered for the next seven decades until the day it joined forces with Akar Kessel.

Afterwards, Jovan and his companions were tied up in a conflict between the Ten Towns and the barbarians of Icewind Dale, instigated by the vengeful soul of a female white dragon known as Icasaracht, the matron mother of all white dragons in Icewind Dale, inhabiting the body of a recently dead barbarian king name Wylfdene. Posing as the king come back from the dead, the white dragon spirit had a personal vendetta against the Ten Towns. A shaman of the Tribe of the Bear, Hjollder, received a vision from Tempos about the chaos Icasaracht's plans for revenge will bring, and he sought out and recruited Jovan and his companions to try to bring peace between the Icewind Dale barbarians and the Ten Towns. Jovan and his companions tried to negotiate with Icasaracht who was impersonating Wylfdene, but she had absolutely no interest in peace, only war against the people the descendants of the people that took away everything she valued.

Eventually, Jovan, his party and Hjollder journeyed to a haunted island in the center of the large lake Maer Dualdon where they learned that Wylfdene is not what he seems, and they venture to the coldest regions of Icewind Dale to find another shaman, an old woman simply known as The Seer. Decades ago, she foresaw a vision of her death, and that Jovan and his companions would be partly responsible for it, so she hid herself in a remorhaz infested cavern hoping to avoid her fate. Despite all odds, Jovan and his companions found The Seer and asked for her help in unmasking the spirit impersonating Wylfdene, the consequence of unmasking Icasaracht was The Seer's death.

They returned to the barbarian campsite and exposed the foreign spirit impersonating Wylfdene, and in rage, Icasaracht killed the Seer and departed Wylfdene's body, and the barbarians helped Jovan and his party track Icasaracht's soul to an island in the Sea of Moving Ice. There, in an abandoned temple, they confronted and fought Icasaracht who wore the body of one of her children who have been kept lifeless in preservation wards for little more than a century. Being reborn anew in the body of one of her children was a contingency plan for her to gain something similar to immortality, and the reason why she was trying to manipulate the barbarians of Icewind Dale to go to war against the Ten Towns is because the origins of the Ten Towns is full of bloodshed, the blood of white dragons, and the barbarians of Icewind Dale. Everything Icasaracht cared about was destroyed by the invading army that eventually settled and created the Ten Towns sometime in the year 1181 DR.

A man named Aihonen used his special magical sword to slay Icasaracht, they fought on the banks of Lac Dinneshere, both Icasaracht and Aihonen died in their battle, sinking to the bottom of the lake, and the blade remained lodged in her original body, preventing her soul from leaving because it somehow knew that Icasaracht would come back in the body of one of her children and exact revenge on the Ten Towns settlers. However, she had returned because a water spirit of the lake resembling an elf woman named Elisia, who was deeply in love with Aihonen, pulled the broken sword out of Icasaracht's corpse a century later to give to Aihonen's descendant, Jhonen because of his physical resemblance to his ancestor Aihonen. When Jovan and his party returned to Easthaven before going into the crystal tower, Jhonen gave Jovan the magically reconstructed sword of Aihonen. To this day, Jovan still carries Aihonen's sword with him. Icasaracht fought Jovan and his party with all the ferocity a white dragon can muster, but was defeated, her spirit retreated into a crystal shard, and her life had finally been put to a permanent end when Jovan destroyed the crystal shard which contained her spirit preparing her soul to be transferred to another one of her offspring. After their adventures in Icewind Dale, Jovan and Felicia got married, had two children, and lived a happy life. Gorris and Xalorn returned to their tribe, Andy returned to Neverwinter, and Ordmar and Lysara stayed close to Luskan and Mirabar.

* * *

After Jovan finished telling his whole story to Ralis, he could clearly see that the young human is spellbound by the amazing adventure he had, and how it changed his nature. During his adventures in Icewind Dale, Jovan used to be moody and sullen because his previous wife was killed by a green dragon a long time ago. But meeting Felicia has brightened his life forever.

"...That's very interesting, Jovan. You've seen so much and experienced so many things..." Ralis said with an amused smile.

Jovan shook his head while chuckling. "... Well, not everything. Why do you think I am here? There's never an end when it comes to being an adventurer. No matter how long you live as an adventurer, there are so many things that you haven't yet seen. You may be human, but having a long lifespan is irrelevant when it comes to the joys of adventuring. The excitement and danger is endless."

"Hmm. I'll remember that next time," Ralis promised.

"You're young, but you have a very good start. Being a hero of Baldur's Gate... That's quite an accomplishment."

"Thanks. I-"

Before Ralis could say more, he and Jovan heard someone clearing their throat behind them. They looked back to see Kyrill Nederlok coming into the tent.

"Am I interrupting anything?" He asked.

"Oh! Marshal Nederlok! I was just-" Jovan began to say.

"No need to give me excuses, Jovan, you are not in trouble. I just need to talk to your new friend here. Ralis?"

"Yes sir?"

"Come with me. General Stonehand and Torsin de Lancie are having a meeting, and I want you to be there to hear it."

Ralis nodded and put on his armor. "Got it. Jovan? I'll get back to you later."

Jovan nodded and watched Ralis leave out the tent with Nederlok.


	13. Chapter 13 Secrets Not Known part 1

Flaming Fist Marshal Kyrill Nederlok led Ralis through the vast coalition camp, taking him to the tent where the generals of Daggerford and Waterdeep's armies are waiting for them. Ralis looked up at the sky and noticed that today is a cloudy morning. With the morning sun blocked out by thick clouds, the winter air is slightly cooler. Ralis took comfort in his belief that the Sword Coast might not get any snow this year, unlike last year in 1368 DR. Each tent Nederlok and Ralis walked by, soldiers were waking up, stepping out of their tents to stretch their legs and begin weapon drills with their drill instructors. There were also some clerics belonging to Waterdeep, Daggerford and the Flaming Fist who are tending wounded and sick soldiers.

"Did you get plenty of rest, Ralis?" Nederlok asked.

"Yes sir," Ralis nodded.

"That's good, because chances are we might need your help with something," Nederlok replied.

"Like what? Recon?" Ralis pressed.

"Maybe. We'll find out once I introduce you to the generals of the Daggerford and Waterdeep armies," Nederlok replied.

Three minutes later, they reached the tent where the generals of the three armies meet and discuss battle strategies. It is the largest tent in the coalition camp, flanked by the banners of Waterdeep, Daggerford and the Flaming Fist. The tent is crimson colored, 35 feet long in the shape of a rectangle. Ralis felt his heart pounding in his chest as he followed Nederlok into the tent, either from excitement or nervousness, he really couldn't tell, and he could hear two people inside arguing. They stepped into the tent and Ralis found a dwarf woman and a human man gathered near a table with a map of the region in the center, arguing about something.

The dwarf woman is Haither Stonehand, the general of Daggerford's army. Although short compared to Nederlok and deLancie, her forehead at the same height as their chests, she looked like a seasoned warrior, her freckles completely visible on her nearly tan skin under her green eyes, red hair tied into two long pigtails that rest on both of her broad shoulders, wearing +1 splintmail body armor, leather boots, a war ax sheathed to her back, and two short swords in scabbards on both sides of her waist. Nederlok knew of Haither only by reputation. Since Daggerford's military force is small compared to the population of the Flaming Fist and Waterdeep's armies, Haither knows every Daggerford soldier by name, including their friends and families. She has a reputation for honesty that usually crosses the line between admirable and brutal, and her skill at diplomacy is not her strong suit. Haither is born to a family of dwarven masons that have lived in Daggerford for generations. Her family fought in the Second Dragonspear War, during the fight against the Hordes of Dragonspear, and unfortunately, Haither's mother was killed during that war.

Next, there's Torsin Cedric deLancie, the general of Waterdeep's army, is tall, fair-skinned, square-jawed handsome man, his neatly groomed black hair bright with hair oil, his thin mustache trimmed and divided between his nostrils, wearing full plate mail body armor with the seal of Waterdeep on the breastplate, and he has a bastard sword sheathed to the left side of his waist. From what Nederlok has heard, Cedric deLancie had been promoted to be the general of Waterdeep's troops because the deLancie patriarch is deeply involved in Waterdeep's politics and can pull enough strings to get Torsin promoted. At the age of 27, Cedric himself is the youngest man in the history of Waterdeep to have the military rank of general, but some would claim that he has yet to earn the right to be a general. Despite his rank, Cedric has absolutely no significant skill fighting in a battlefield, his true talent is being an expert on military history and tactics, and those skills are what polarizes people in the coalition camp regarding whether Cedric is a competent general or not.

"You gutless worm! What gives you the right to tell me what to do with my men?" Haither snarled at Cedric from the other side of the table.

deLancie scoffed. "You mean your 50 men? Why, my 350 men, of course."

"A tenth of Daggerford's population, deLancie! One in ten! That's what I'VE brought into this effort!" The dwarf woman barked back.

"And it is appreciated. But Baldur's Gate and especially Waterdeep have provided the majority of troops here. I'll not risk them needlessly," deLancie replied.

"But you have to admit, inaction carries its own risks," Ralis said.

Upon hearing Ralis's voice, Haither and deLancie finally noticed Nederlok and Ralis, but their eyes were focused on Ralis, though, since he spoke first.

"And who, pray tell, are you?" deLancie asked the young man.

"General Haither Stonehand, Torsin Cedric deLancie, allow me to present the hero of Baldur's Gate," Nederlok announced.

Ralis had to fight the urge to fidget under the gaze of Stonehand and deLancie, he had a feeling that both of them, or at least one of them has something to say about what happened at Boareskyr Bridge since word has no doubt been spreading about it like wildfire among the coalition camp, and his hunch proved to be correct as Haither took a few steps towards him, and judging by the look in her eyes, she is most definitely not happy.

"Oh, aye? So what was that business on Boraskyr Bridge about?"

Ralis opened his mouth but Haither immediately cut him off before he could utter a word.

"You know how many of our people worship Lathander? Tempus? And you burn the dead Lord of bloody Murder Bhaal's symbol into the ground where he died? Great, that's SURE to boost morale..."

"Haither, please, show a LITTLE decorum..." deLancie said.

Then suddenly, Ralis and Nederlok heard Dorn Il-Khan's voice behind them.

"Decorum is for nobles and their toadies. We're here to slay the Shining Lady, not enjoy a fine dinner with her," he said.

Ralis and Nederlok turned around to see the half-orc wearing ebony black armor behind them.

"Dorn? What are you doing here?" Ralis asked him.

"You are most perceptive," deLancie said to Dorn, then turned his attention to Ralis and Nederlok. "And, loath though I am to agree with her, General Stonehand has a point. The convenient arrival of the Flaming Fist are a welcome and much-needed asset, Ralis. YOUR presence is problematic. Many are... disturbed... by tales of Boareskyr Bridge. It would be best if you were away from the camp for a time."

Ralis couldn't help but sigh in dismay. "After everything I've done, saving Baldur's Gate, helping the Flaming Fist reach this place safely and saving Bridgefort from the crusaders, suspicion and distrust towards me still runs rampant. I find this very discouraging," he said.

Nederlok stepped forward, placing both of his hands on the table while Ralis stood next to him.

"Everyone has a part to play here. The hero vanquished Sarevok. If he can do the same to Caelar, it's to everyone's advantage."

"If we've any hope of defeating the crusade, troop morale must be maintained. Your presence works against that," deLancie counter-argued, speaking partially to Nederlok, and to Ralis.

"To lead, one must instill fear in one's followers. They must know insubordination will cost them more than any enemy ever could," Dorn explained coldly, but he was mostly ignored by Ralis, Nederlok, Stonehand and deLancie. No one among them believed in striking fear in soldiers to get their loyalty.

"So what's our first move against the crusade?" Ralis asked, breaking the brief silence after Dorn spoke.

Cedric deLancie signaled Haither, Nederlok and Ralis to gather around the table and examine the perfectly detailed partial map of the Western Heartlands from Dragonspear Castle and The High Moor on the northwestern corner of the map to a small village called Triel on the southeastern corner of the map, which is many miles southeast from Boareskyr Bridge and Soubar. Dorn departed the tent instead of staying.

"As it happens, there is a matter that requires attention a ways from here. Word has gotten 'round that Caelar's forces are receiving supplies via a cavern beneath Dragonspear Castle. We have a rough idea of where the entrance is- beyond Dead Man's Pass, as the locals like to call it," deLancie explained, pointing at the inside of a circle of black ink on the map, suggesting that Dead Man's Pass is somewhere in the forest eight or nine miles southeast from Dragonspear Castle.

"That's assuming the information we have is accurate," Marshal Nederlok said to deLancie while examining the map, softly stroking his beard in a skeptical manner. "Torture usually gets you answers, but it doesn't always get you the truth.

Ralis frowned in displeasure as soon as he heard the word "torture" leave Nederlok's lips. "Torture? Tell me this isn't true. Are we so afraid of Caelar Argent that we would stoop down to her level of vileness? Are our principles truly so weak that we make ourselves no different from our enemy?"

deLancie frowned at Ralis. "I'd stoop lower than that if it meant saving the life of a single soldier under my command," he said.

Ralis looked at deLancie in utter disbelief. "Does this sort of talk make anyone else uncomfortable? Because my skin is crawling right now."

"Judge me if you must, Ralis, but for the Sword Coast's sake, do it after the Shining Lady's been dealt with," deLancie urged.

Ralis curled his hands into fists and quietly grunted in disgust, saying nothing for a few seconds. Nederlok understood that Ralis has never seen wars up close before, and therefore has no idea of how ugly wars can truly be. Wars usually force soldiers and their superiors to toss aside morality and do whatever they must to defeat their enemy, whether they like it or not. However, Nederlok has concerns about deLancie's morality as well. From what he has heard, the man cares more about his reputation than his soldiers.

"... Very well," Ralis finally said with a defeated sigh. "What do you require of me?"

"We have reason to believe Caelar Argent's top adviser, a priest named Hephernaan, is quartered in Dragonspear's basement. We know very little of Hephernaan, other than he claims to worship all Faerunian gods, and he apparently has Caelar's ear," Nederlok explained.

"We do know that a series of caverns runs benearth the castle. We believe Caelar is channeling supplies through the tunnels rather than attempting to break our perimeter. So there is a way into the castle from below," deLancie added.

"You want me to use the caverns beneath Dragonspear Castle- our enemy's stronghold- to break into the castle- again, the stronghold of our enemy- to try and gather intelligence about this Hephernaan?" Ralis asked with sarcasm and skepticism mixed in.

"That is what needs doing. Will you do it?" Nederlok asked Ralis.

Ralis smiled at him. "You had me at "go spelunking to find a way to break into our enemy's stronghold to learn more about her and her advisors"."

"Huh?" Stonehand raised her right eyebrow up in confusion. Apparently she does not understand idioms.

Ralis noticed that apparently General Stonehand does not have or understand humor of any kind.

"What he's saying is "yes", General Stonehand," deLancie translated.

Haither blinked then nodded at Ralis. "Good. Well, be about your business, then," she said to him.

"Just so we're clear, Ralis, our resources are limited and our focus must be on containing the castle. If you should get into trouble trouble outside this camp, you'll be on your own. We simply don't have the personnel for a rescue party, no matter how valuable the person captured may be," deLancie warned Ralis.

"Huh. That's very encouraging, deLancie..." Ralis muttered aloud. "Guess I better gather my party and get moving," he said aloud with a bit more enthusiasm and turned to leave.

"Before you leave," deLancie called, stopping Ralis before he could take the third step towards the tent's exit, "there's a tent near the camp entrance that belongs to a dwarf named Phossey Dugdeep. Go see her; she's been working on something you might find useful as you explore the underground river beneath Dragonspear."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," Ralis nodded then departed the tent.

* * *

As soon as he stepped outside the tent, he looked up at the cloudy morning sky and noticed that in the short time he spent inside the tent with Nederlok, Stonehand and deLancie, the clouds blanketing the sky has become a bit more brighter. A beautiful morning to go out for a walk, but not today, not when this campsite is less than 20 miles south from Dragonspear Castle. Ralis walked through the Waterdeep army's section of the campsite heading towards the Flaming Fist section which is further east, and after passing by several tents, Ralis noticed that it didn't take long for the entire campsite to wake up and quickly become active. Drill instructors were already hard at work putting their soldiers through rigorous training exercises, and those who are injured from recent battles that they have been through on the way to Dragonspear Castle were tended to by several clerics. Ralis walked by the cleric tents to his right, looking at wounded and ill soldiers lying on bedrolls, moaning and groaning in pain while clerics tried healing their wounds or curing them from whatever sickness that inflicts them. If Caelar's crusaders are the cause of their miseries, what manner of weapons do they have that cause so much suffering?

"Ralis!" Someone nearby called him.

Ralis gasped and made a small startled jump, then turned his head to see Khalid next to him, already dressed in full body armor but not wearing his helmet, exposing his short black hair.

"Khalid?" Ralis said in surprise after inhaling air slowly to calm his heart.

"I'm s-so glad I f-found you. I'm s-sorry to b-bother you again, my friend," Khalid apologized.

"What is it, Khalid? You look like you need a favor. Is it about Jaheira? If it is, why do you always stress yourself to please her?" Ralis asked, pausing to chat with his half-elven friend.

Khalid shook his head and sighed. "Y-you have to understand something about Jaheira. She always knows what she wants and h-how to get it. That intimidated me when we first met." Khalid couldn't keep eye contact with Ralis and lowered his eyes towards the ground as if he were ashamed. "I f-fell in love with her- I w-worshipped her- but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. What could I offer such a woman?"

Ralis nodded, partially understanding how Khalid felt. "There are few things harder than loving someone who doesn't feel the same way, or expresses their feelings in a different way," he remarked.

Khalid nodded in agreement. "One day, I learned she'd been wounded on a mission. The healer tried to keep me out of the H-harper safehouse. I kn-knocked him over and rushed in to see her. I blurted out everything. Told her how I really felt. And... she said she felt the same about me. She's a hard person to r-read at times. I wasn't sure if she'd like the necklace- I'm still not. But it- it's better to take a chance than hide my feelings," Khalid said holding the partially completed necklace he made for Jaheira up in his right hand, eight pearls linked together by thick strands of spider webs, looking at it forlornly as if he isn't proud of his handiwork.

Ralis placed his hand on Khalid's shoulder and said: "She liked you well enough to marry you. I'm sure she'll like whatever gift you give her."

Khalid looked slowly turned his head towards Ralis and smiled at him, then showed him the necklace.

"I've started work on the necklace. All I need now is a precious s-stone to set in it. Jaheira's favorite is aquamarine."

Frowning, Ralis searched his memories to recall if he has an aquamarine gem on his person. He checked his jewel bag, digging through verious gems and jewels he has collected recently- a few topazes, a diamond, a garnet gem, three water opals, seven zircon gems, and... one aquamarine gem. Gasping softly, Ralis was surprised and relieved to see that he has what Khalid needs. He doesn't remember how he got the gem, but it doesn't matter.

"I have an aquamarine with me, in fact," Ralis informed Khalid proudly.

Khalid's eyes momentarily widened in surprise. "W-wonderful! May I have it?"

"If it'll make Jaheira happy? Of course. Here, take it," Ralis replied, handing the gem over to Khalid.

"Thank you! I'll finish the necklace and p-present it to Jaheira right away." Khalid ran off towards the Flaming Fist section of the coalition camp, and Ralis followed him, never running, only walking.

Less than a minute later, he found M'khiin and Dorn nearby Patrescus' tent, talking to each other. However, Patrescus himself is nowhere close by to be seen, possibly someplace else in the campsite. Ralis considered speaking to them, but decided against it, besides, time is precious, he wants to find Jaheira, wherever she is, so he moved on. A minute later he found Neera speaking to Edwin in the southeastern part of the coalition camp. Edwin is sitting on a log as if it were a bench, reading a spellbook while Neera stood next to him, trying to get his attention. A very obvious way to annoy the man.

"So, Edwin. Eeeedwin. Eddie. Ed. Can I call you Ed?" She asked him cheerfully.

Edwin slowly broke his gaze away from the pages of his book and slowly turned his head to look at Neera with a mild scowl.

"Why are you speaking to me, and how do I make you stop?" He asked her, his voice hinting that he is annoyed.

Neera put the index finger of her left hand on her lip and looked up at the sky in thought for less than three seconds.

"Well, you're a Red Wizard, right? I've had some... issues... with them. I was wondering if you could maybe help me out?"

Edwin shrugged. "I could, but I won't. I don't like you, half-elf. I spent years mastering my craft, and you... _you_..."

Neera frowned in confusion, catching the hint in the barely contained anger in Edwin's tone when he said "you" that he is jealous of her wild magic, possibly.

"So you won't help me because you are jealous?"

Edwin's eyes widened momentarily. "Jealous? Jealous?" He scoffed. "You know as little of me as you do magic. Go. Leave me be. Your nattering makes my head ache.

"You two play nice over there, all right?" Ralis called to them.

"Oh don't worry about me hero," Edwin called. "I will tolerate the half-simian's presence in your group as long as she ceases her constant nattering within earshot of my personal space."

Neera huffed and placed her hands on her waist. "All right already, I can take a hint. Have fun being antisocial, Ed. You'll see how far it gets you in life," Neera said before walking off, and Ralis joined with her.

"So what's going on, Ralis? What's our next move?" Neera asked as she walked alongside him, moving past dozens of soldiers interacting with each other in various ways.

Before replying to Neera, Ralis just now noticed that the armies of Waterdeep and Daggerford have distinctly different colored uniforms compared to the Flaming Fist. Waterdeep city guards have dark red colored uniforms with the emblem of the city on the breastplate of their armor, and the Daggerford Militia wears green and grey colored uniforms. Flaming Fist soldiers wear blue and gold colored uniforms.

"The generals of the three armies here want me to spy on Caelar's advisor," Ralis explained.

Neera blinked in shock. "What? They expect you to go to Dragonspear Castle with no backup? That's suicide!"

"Not directly to Dragonspear Castle. They have barely reliable intel that there are underground caverns that link up to the cellars of the castle. We are going to enter Dragonspear from underground," Ralis explained.

"Oh. Well, that's a better plan," Neera said, clearly relieved.

"Do you know where Jaheira is, by the way?" Ralis asked.

"The last time I spoke to her, which was two minutes ago, she was with some woman named "Mizana" or something like that," Neera replied.

"So she is near Mizhena's tent? Then that's where I'm going," Ralis said, picking up the pace.

"What will you do after that?" Neera asked, trying to keep up with him.

"Then I'll go visit someone named Phossey Dugdeep, because the Waterdeep general deLancie recommended it," Ralis replied.

Two minutes later, Ralis and Neera found Jaheira in her tent, which is between Mizhena's tent and Brielle's tent.

"Hey, Jaheira. I see you are wearing the necklace," Ralis said by way of greeting.

He liked how Khalid designed the necklace. The eight pearls are lined up evenly on both sides of Jaheira's neck, four on one side, four on the other, with the aquamarine gem in the center.

"Khalid just gave me this necklace. An "anniversary gift", he called it. He takes time to make a pointless ornament in the midst of all this chaos," Jaheira said, the tone of her voice made Ralis believe that she doesn't approve of the gift.

"The effort may have been ill-conceived, but the sentiment is admirable, surely?" Ralis asked.

Jaheira nodded. "I LOVE it. No matter what happens in our lives, I know Khalid is always thinking of me. Words do not always come easy to him. This is how he shows me he cares. I am truly fortunate to have him in my life."

"Khalid is a nice guy. He stutters a lot, but I like him anyway," Neera admitted.

Jaheira nodded then focused her eyes on Ralis. "Anyway, you should not be here, Ralis. The hero of Baldur's Gate should not risk himself so recklessly."

Ralis groaned. "Now you're beginning to sound like Imoen, she tried to talk me out of this too. Under the circumstances, Jaheira, inaction would be the reckless course."

"Do not be eager for the coming battle, Ralis. Caelar is a force to be reckoned with. She is an aasimar, a holy warrior of the Argent bloodline. A power to be reckoned with, by any measure. She should have been a force for good in this world. Whatever happened- whatever happens now- it is a tragedy," Jaheira said.

"I know this already, Jaheira. Right now, the generals are focused on Caelar's advisor, Hephernaan. He might somehow be tied to whatever tragedy that inspired Caelar to form this crusade."

Jaheira nodded in approval, making sure her belt is secure around her waist, and her scabbard.

"That's a good point to start. What is your plan?"

"I want you to go find Corwin, Minsc, Dynaheir, M'khiin, Glint, Voghiln and Baeloth and bring them to me. Neera and I are going to see Phossey Dugdeep and meet us at the coalition camp entrance, because we are going to Dead Man's Pass soon," Ralis instructed as he turned to leave the tent.

"As you wish," Jaheira complied before Ralis and Neera departed.

It took Ralis and Neera almost 30 minutes to find Phossey Dugdeep's tent. They spent the first ten minutes going around asking any Waterdeep City Guard soldier they came across where to find Phossey Dugdeep's tent. Most of them knew of Phossey Dugdeep but had no clue where her tent is set up. The 54th Waterdeep City Guard soldier they came across, a human man with a thick black beard who was speaking to three Flaming Fist soldiers managed to tell Ralis and Neera what they needed to know, that Dugdeep's tent is in the Waterdeep City Guard's section of the coalition camp, to the northwestern corner of the campsite. Ralis and Neera took their time making sure every tent they passed by was not Phossey's tent so they won't miss it. But as luck would have it, they eventually found it, because Ralis spotted General deLancie up ahead entering the tent.

"There it is, over there," Ralis pointed out.

"How do you know?" Neera asked him.

"General deLancie told me about Phossey Dugdeep, which means he knows her personally, and I just happened to see him enter her tent, too," Ralis explained.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Neera grabbed Ralis by his right arm and pulled him along.

"... And you're certain it's stable?" Ralis heard deLancie say from inside the tent as they drew nearer to it.

"Am I certain it's stable? Am I CERTAIN it's stable? AM I certain it's stable?" Ralis heard a woman with a dwarven accent exclaim incredulously to deLancie. "I'm certain. Pretty certain. I mean, there's stable and there's STABLE, you know?"

At that moment, Ralis and Neera entered the tent and saw all kinds of equipment and items that Phossey uses to craft effective explosive devices. It took nearly a split second for deLancie and Phossey to notice Ralis and Neera when they came in.

"Ah, Ralis. Glad you came. This is Phossey Dugdeep," deLancie introduced them.

Ralis took a look at Phossey and noticed that she has a slim body build compared to most dwarf women he has met recently. She wore a brown, shabby, short sleeved smock with a belt tied around her waist, tan pantaloons, and brown leather boots. Her brown hair stands straight up almost like the quills of a porcupine, and she wore goggles meant to protect her eyes when she is using a blow torch or a similar tool. Phossey Dugdeep has a reputation in Waterdeep for doing all kinds of creative things with combustible material. Though she clearly isn't a mage, her talents relate to an alchemist, mixing potions with other materials for amusing results.

"Good to know ya," Phossey nodded courteously at Ralis.

"Spoken like someone who doesn't know me," Ralis said, echoing what Corwin once said months ago back in Baldur's Gate. "Tell me, deLancie, what could possibly be worth delaying my journey to the caverns beneath Dragonspear?"

"Phossey, tell them about the potion of explosion barrel," deLancie instructed.

"It's not a barrel of potion of explosion, it WAS a barrel of potion of explosion- a dozen barrels actually, the ones you stopped from blowing Boareskyr Bridge, Ralis," Phossey said, correcting deLancie and speaking to Ralis at the same time. "NOW it's a barrel of Bwoosh!"

"Huh?" Ralis and Neera said together, tilting their heads to the left in confusion.

"BWOOSH!" Phossey repeated, bringing her hands together at first then spreading her arms wide apart as she said "bwoosh", imitating a growing explosion. "It's fun and easier to say. What's not to love?" She asked with a smug grin.

"Okay..." Neera slowly said, not knowing what to actually say.

"The... "Bwoosh!" ... is distilled explosive concentrate. Planted in the right spot under Dragonspear, it could give a major advantage when we move against the castle," Phossey explained.

"How am I to know the right spot?" Ralis asked curiously.

Now deLancie spoke instead of Phossey. "When you're inside the cavern, consult this amulet each time you come to an intersection. It will guide you to the best placement for the barrel," he said, handing Ralis the amulet. "Now, Phossey, would you please excuse us?"

"What? I- Sure, I s'pose. I mean, it's my tent 'n all, but- yeah. All right. I'll just... go over here then," Phossey said.

She walked past Neera, heading outside the tent, and Neera followed her, getting the feeling that deLancie wants her to leave for a while too. Once Ralis and deLancie were alone in the tent, they could speak in private.

"The explosives are just one strategy I've fomrulated to undermine our enemy. I've another that you might help with," deLancie said.

"What's that?" Ralis asked, his gut feeling telling him that deLancie is up to something that would even make Nederlok, Stonehand and even Phossey squeamish.

Ralis saw deLancie pull three medium sided flasks out of a bag strapped around his torso and hold them out so Ralis can see them clearly.

"These flasks contain poison taken from a priestess of Talona we captured and interrogated. Her evil works can now be turned to the greater good," deLancie explained.

Ralis felt his gut tighten. This man captured and forced a servant of Talona, a goddess known as the Lady of Poison, and forced her to create poisons to use against Caelar and her crusaders? Ralis wanted to say something, but he held his tongue for now.

"We know Dragonspear is being supplied via the caverns you'll be visiting shortly, if all goes as planned. If you put a few drops of this in the enemy food supplies and water, we would have an edge when we finally confront the Shining Lady."

Ralis couldn't hold his tongue any longer. "Poison an enemy army? You sicken me, deLancie. Is this the honor of the Waterdhavian guard?"

"Given a choice between victory and honor, I know which I'll choose. I can see you'll not be persuaded entirely by reason- given your reputation, I can't say I'm surprised. Perhaps you are open to compromise. Would it change your mind if I told you the poison wasn't lethal?"

"I'd probably say yes if they were, but knowing that the poison is lethal to begin with says something about yourself, deLancie. A victory stolen is no victory worth having. Were you anyone else I'd cut you down for even proposing such villainy," Ralis sneered at him.

DeLancie's face flushed red. "Damn it! Your reticence this day is going to kill people. Good men and women. I will do everything in my power to see an end to Caelar Argent. You, it seems, will not."

"I will see an end to Caelar Argent too, but I choose the honorable way, not the easy way. From my personal experience, deLancie, the necessary choice is not always the right choice. If you'd been through what I have, you'd understand," Ralis rebuffed him.

DeLancie looked as if he wanted to slap some sense into Ralis, but he restrained himself, and placed the flasks back in his bag. "Have it your way, but remember, the blood of those who fall to the crusade is on your hands. Begone. The sight of you disgusts me, I'll look upon you no more," he growled then stormed out the tent.

Ralis took the small barrel of bwoosh and walked out the tent with it.

He found Neera outside standing 8 feet away from Phossey's tent, watching three Waterdhavian soldiers and two Daggerford Militia soldiers telling each other jokes. probably eavesdropping on them.

"Neera," Ralis called, and she turned around to face him.

"About time. Ready to go?" Neera asked him.

"Yeah. Let's meet up with everyone at the camp entrance. I'm sure Jaheira has gathered everyone I requested to come with us to Dead Man's Pass," Ralis said.

The entrance/exit of the coalition camp wasn't far from Phossey's tent. When ralis and Neera got there, they noticed that Khalid, Jaheira and the others have not arrived yet.

"Jaheira is late. Where could she be?" Ralis asked Neera while looking around, still holding the small barrel of bwoosh with both hands.

"Don't look at me, I don't know where she is!" Neera said in denial.

Ralis sighed. This delay might set them back a bit. At that moment, Ralis heard a woman raise her voice nearby, shouting: "I demand entry!"

Then he heard Sergeant Wilch say: "Demand all you like. No harm demanding things."

Neera's eyes widened when she heard the woman close by say "turnip juice".

"Hey! Ralis! Someone is selling turnip juice!" Neera nudged Ralis.

"So?" He shrugged.

"Didn't you forget? I need some turnip juice to get Adoy out of my head!"

"Huh?... Oh! Right! We better find her right away!" Ralis said.

While Ralis and Neera were looking for the source of the commotion Wilch has with a woman trying to sell turnip juice, Neera's sharp ears heard the woman exclaim: "I have goods to sell!"

Neera turned around, facing the exit out of the campsite and realized that the woman selling turnip juice is outside the camp, not inside.

"Ralis! This way!" Neera led Ralis out of the camp until they saw a gnome woman with a bag strapped around her shoulders apparently carrying turnip juice and arguing with Sergeant Wilch.

"You! You there! You look moneyed! And in dire need of Wilhelmina's Miracle Turnip Juice!" The gnome woman said to Ralis as soon as she spotted him.

Ralis raised an eyebrow in amusement. turnip juice is simple turnip juice. What could possibly be special about hers?

"Miracle... turnip juice? This is going to be good," Ralis smirked even though his fingers slightly ached from holding the barrel of bwoosh.

"Be quiet, Ralis!" Neera scolded him and turned her attention to Wilhelmina. "I actually need some turnip juice- it's part of the potion that'll keep Adoy quiet- Oh, don't YOU start in on me now, Adoy. I'm doing this."

"Yes! Just one sip of my product and you'll regrow limbs, gain blessings from at least three separate deities, and make contact with the dead!" Wilhelmina announced, pulling one bottle of turnip juice out of her bag and showing it to Ralis and Neera.

Sergeant Wilch rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"I'll take one," Neera told the gnome.

"I swear to you, it's... What?" Wilhelmina obviously wasn't expecting to make an actual sale.

"One turnip juice, please," Neera said with a sincere smile, holding out two silver coin pieces in her hand.

"Oh. OH. Of course! Coming right up! Glittergold bless you, lady!" Wilhelmina gave Neera the bottle of turnip juice, and Neera gave her the two silver pieces.

Then the gnome gloated at Wilch. "Hah! See? I told you. A customer. I can stay!"

"A little turnip juice never hurt anyone. Let her go through the camp and ply her trade," Ralis told Wilch.

Wilch sighed in defeat. "As you will, my Lord," he muttered, then allowed Wilhelmina to enter the campsite.

As soon as Wilhelmina entered the campsite, Ralis and Neera saw Jaheira and Khalid arrive, accompanied with Corwin, Minsc, Dynaheir, M'khiin, Glint, Dorn, Safana, Voghiln and Baeloth.

"We have arrived, oh fearless leader. What are your orders now?" Jaheria announced.

"Finally! Minsc, grab this barrel for me, will ya?" Ralis asked.

"Of course, my friend!" Minsc approached him and grabbed the barrel of Bwoosh.

"Now be careful with that! It's explosive!" Ralis warned him.

"What?" Minsc gasped, but he never dropped the barrel, and Boo squealed in alarm.

At that moment, Corporal Bence Duncan came running towards Ralis and the others from the Trade Way road.

"Captain Corwin! Thank the gods!" he exclaimed, out of breath, his face drenched in sweat.

"Steady on, Corporal. What's the problem?" Corwin asked.

"It's Skie Silvershield. She's left the camp," Duncan said.

Ralis blinked twice in surprise. "Do you know where she went, Corporal?" He questioned Duncan.

"She was last seen heading towards Dragonspear Castle. Alone," Duncan said, wiping beads of sweat off his forehead with his gauntlet.

Ralis and Corwin's hearts sank. If Skie gets captured by the crusaders, it will be beyond impossible to send a rescue party to get her, not before the assault on the castle begins.

"And the guards just let her go?" Ralis asked Duncan in a harsh tone as if he expected the guards to do their jobs more efficiently.

"They don't know who she is. As far as they're concerned, she's just another Flaming Fist. This is bad. This is very bad," Corwin said.

Understatement of the year. Skie's capture or death would be extremely problematic.

"I'll get her back. She was heading towards Dragonspear, you say?" Ralis asked Duncan.

"That's what the guards tell me. Bring her back safely, Ralis- if the crusade takes his daughter, Entar Silvershield will have all our heads," Duncan said then wearily walked past them towards the camp.

"Grand Duke Entar S-Silvershield's daughter is here t-too?" Khalid asked in disbelief.

"Shhh! not so loud! She willingly joined the Flaming Fist," Corwin said.

"Oh. T-that is a mistake," he said.

"It is and it isn't. Come on, Corwin, we better get moving before Skie gets too far ahead of us. If we get lucky, we'll catch her before she reaches Dragonspear Castle," Ralis said, then he and Corwin prepared to depart.

"Whoa, wait. What about us?" Neera asked Ralis, halting both him and Corwin in their tracks.

"Do thou plan on going to Dragonspear Castle alone? 'Tis is suicide, and thou know it," Dynaheir scolded like a strict mother.

"It's a stupid idea, I admit, but two people going to Dragonspear Castle will attract less attention than a small group. Come on, Corwin, we better go," Ralis said, and again, he and Corwin made their way towards the Trade Way road, and no one halted them this time.

* * *

Ralis and Corwin headed north until they found themselves on the Trade Way road, then they headed northeast along the road for the next few hours. Even though Dragonspear Castle is directly north from the Coalition Camp several miles away on the other side of the Trade Way road, Ralis and Corwin need to enter the castle through its main gates. it is likely that crusader scouts patrol the castle's perimeter expecting interlopers to find an unprotected entry. Ralis couldn't understand how Skie hopes to accomplish a recon mission at Dragonspear Castle itself. It is the stronghold of Caelar's crusaders, which means it will be heavily guarded.

"I'm afraid that Skie is going to get herself killed," Ralis told Corwin as they walked up the road together, making no secret of his doubts and fears.

"What makes you say that? We won't know until we find her, so try to be optimistic," Corwin said.

Ralis glanced at her in an incredulous manner.

"How...? how... _Grrrrr_..." Ralis had to restrain himself from pulling at his own hair. "...We don't know how many guards surround Dragonspear's perimeter, and I doubt that the crusaders on patrol would simply just let anyone they find suspicious pass by. This is a suicide mission, Corwin, and Skie should know that!"

"I know, it doesn't make sense why Skie would just throw herself into the face of danger, but we can't assume her motives until we find her. For now, we must try to catch up with her," Corwin said.

Hours passed, the morning turned to noon, and finally Ralis and Corwin found the path that will take them directly to Dragonspear Castle. Heading east, they followed the path through the forest until they reached a part on the path that gave them an awe-inspiring view of the castle up ahead, the path winding down the hill towards the castle's Great Gate, which is broken. And around the castle's outside walls, the banners of Caelar's crusade hangs brazenly, glistening in the sun's noon light.

"Wow...! Look at that...!" Ralis gasped in awe, his eyes focused on the skeletal remains of the dragon Halatathlaer resting on top of the ruins of the castle. "How is this place still standing? This castle looks so old and beat up, it looks unsafe to take residence there," Ralis said to Corwin.

"It probably is," Corwin said, then exhaled sharply, hoping that the crusaders down there won't recognize either of them as enemies.

"Nervous?" Ralis glanced at Corwin.

"Yeah. A little. Let's just go down there and find Skie," Corwin said, then the continued down the winding path towards Dragonspear Castle.

Ralis became more and more unsettled the closer he and Corwin approached the main entrance of Dragonspear Castle. Up ahead, guarding the broken Great Gate are five elite ranked crusaders, flanked by two clay golems standing eight feet tall. The species of the crusaders guarding the gates are hard to tell except for two, because most of them wore helmets, but judging by the masculine and feminine shapes of their bodies, three of them are men, one of them a dwarf, and the other three are women, one of them is a mage, possibly the one who created the two clay golems.

"Halt! Friend or foe?" One of the crusader officers, a man, called out to Ralis and Corwin as soon as they stepped 8 feet close to them.

Ralis and Corwin stood their ground. Ralis guessed that Corwin is too busy trying to calm her nerves to speak, so he spoke up.

"How can I know that? We've never even met yet," Ralis said, choosing to speak out of sincerity to make a good first impression.

"None but those who walk in the Shining Lady's light may pass through here. Do you carry Caelar's seal?" The officer asked.

"I do not- not yet. I would fight under her banner- I understand her crusade welcomes new recruits?" Ralis asked.

"The Shining Lady embraces all who claim her cause as their own- but I cannot allow you entry. You'd not be the first of our foes to attempt to enter the castle in the guise of the faithful," the officer said.

Ralis gulped. He hoped that the officer isn't hinting that he knows he and Corwin are not mercenaries looking to work for Caelar.

"You call us foes, but we are nothing of the sort. We are not even allies yet," Ralis said.

"Without the seal of Caelar, you shall not pass. Begone!" The officer exclaimed, and Ralis and Corwin had no choice but to turn around and leave.

Once they got far enough away from the view of the guards guarding the castle entrance, Ralis and Corwin began to discuss their next course of action.

"I don't like this, Ralis. He said that we weren't the first to try to enter. Does that mean...?"

"I hope not, Corwin. I sincerely hope not. Skie is a smart girl. I'm sure she has figured out something that we haven't yet," Ralis said, trying to stay optimistic.

"Like what?" Corwin asked.

Ralis was about to speak, but he thought his ears heard voices nearby.

"Shh! I hear someone coming! Hide!" He whispered harshly to Corwin, then they jumped into the forest bushes on the side of the road, hiding, waiting for whoever is approaching.

They waited in a crouching position, watching the pathway from the bushes, hearing the voices become louder and clearer. A man and woman's voice. Crusader scouts. They came into view, walking along the path towards Dragonspear Castle. As far as Ralis and Corwin can tell, one scout is human, the man, and the woman is an elf or half-elf, Ralis and Corwin never learned to tell the difference between a pureblood elf and a part human part elf.

"... Day in and day out, we patrol the castle's perimeter, and for what? Who would dare try to break into Dragonspear Castle while we are here?" The man asked his partner.

"Hephernaan's orders. You can never be too careful," the half-elf woman replied.

"What? I thought Caelar gives the orders," the man replied.

"When Caelar is away on other business, Ashatiel or Hephernaan is in charge and giving orders on her behalf. Don't you understand the chain of command, or are you that dense?"

"I just expected the Shining Lady to be more active in giving us commands. I joined this crusade because I believe in what she is fighting for. I've heard about the Dragonspear Wars."

"Yeah..." The woman said in agreement, and at that moment their voices trailed off in the distance until Ralis and Corwin couldn't hear them anymore.

"I think they're gone..." Ralis whispered.

Corwin nodded, and she stood up, preparing to move through the bushes to get back on the pathway, but she felt her boot kick something on the ground. She looked down, using her hands to part away the thin branches until she found a dead body half naked on the ground. A red haired human woman, wearing only a tight cloth breast binding or sling as a brassiere, and beige underwear, her body armor apparently stolen by someone, and there is a clean slit across her throat with thin streaks of dried blood running across both sides of her neck, meaning someone killed her a few hours ago and took her body armor.

"Ralis, there's a dead body here," Corwin said.

"What?" Ralis moved through the bushes towards Corwin and saw the dead body.

"Whoever did this must have taken something this woman had," Corwin said.

Then suddenly an idea came to Ralis. This could be Skie's handiwork. She probably killed this scout, hid her body, took her body armor and helmet, and possibly Caelar's seal to gain entry into Dragonspear Castle!

"It's gotta be Skie, the smart brat! She must have figured out that the best way to infiltrate the castle is to disguise herself as one of the crusaders!" Ralis said.

Corwin couldn't help but smirk with Ralis. "You know what? That is an amusing idea. But where can we find crusaders to incapacitate and take their armor?"

Ralis smiled at her. "Those two that just passed by us a minute ago," he reminded her.

Then they returned to the pathway going back towards Dragonspear following the two crusaders that walked by a minute ago. When they caught up to the two crusaders on patrol, Corwin and Ralis snuck up behind them, and when they got close enough, they wrapped their arms around them and tightened their grip around their necks until the human man and half-elf woman that were struggling to break free slipped into unconsciousness. Then Ralis nad Corwin dragged their bodies off the road into the forests far enough not to be noticed by those heading for Dragonspear Castle, then placed them behind trees. Then Ralis and Corwin stripped them of their body armor, and undressed out of thier own body armor. However, Ralis and Corwin undressed out of their own armor away from each other for obvious reasons, then got dressed into the crusader armor. Corwin was worried that the half-elf woman's armor wouldn't fit her properly, but as luck would have it, the half-elf woman's body shape is similar to Corwin's so it is a near perfect fit. Ralis and Corwin also found the seals of Caelar Argent that one of the crusader officers at the castle entrance mentioned. Before returning to Dragonspear, Ralis and Corwin his their armor where they can find them later, and Ralis used his dirk to slit the throats of the unconscious crusaders because he and Corwin can't take the risk of them waking up to find that they are nearly naked and warn their allies that someone has infiltrated the castle, that would put everyone in the castle on high alert, which will jeopardize the objective of spying on Hephernaan.

Dressed in crusader armor now, and helmets obscuring their heads, Ralis and Corwin returned to Dragonspear Castle, approaching the five crusader officers and mage guarding the Great Gate with the intimidating clay golems.

"Halt! Friend or foe?" The same officer called out.

"I hold in my hand the seal of Caelar Argent. What do you think?" Ralis called as he and Corwin held the seals in their hand in clear view.

"Oh! Forgive me, my Lord. I did not know you were one of the faithful. Please, pass. May Caelar's light shine upon you always," the officer said, and they parted away, allowing Ralis and Corwin to walk by and pass through the broken gates of the castle.

Rubble and debris are strewn everywhere, so Ralis, Corwin and the crusaders around them had to watch their step. Around them, Corwin and Ralis saw crusaders milling about everywhere they looked, and there are more than a dozen, maybe hundreds of tents in the outer ward of Dragonspear Castle.

"Look at this place, Corwin..." Ralis whispered.

"There are enough people here to start a war," Corwin whispered back.

Up ahead, 108 feet away from where they stood, Ralis and Corwin saw the decrepit walls of the castle's inner ward, which is likely where Caelar and her trusted lieutenants are housed in, so it seems that the crusader army take residence in the tents here in the outer ward. When Ralis looked up at the castle's inner structure, he could only see some of the tail bone of Halatathlaer resting on the edge of the castle's roof, not its entire skeletal body since he is already within the castle. Ralis and Corwin decided to head northeast, explore more of the outer ward in a counter-clockwise pattern to search for Skie. As they departed from the cobblestone path that leads towards the castle's inner gates which are guarded by nearly a dozen elite ranked crusaders, Corwin and Ralis took notice of the crusaders they walked by. Apparently some are humans, elves, half-elves, gnomes and dwarves, but they also saw a few half-dragons, half-orcs, hobgoblins, gnolls, and even ogres, cyclopes and kobolds! The diversity of species in crusader ranks never ceased to surprise Corwin.

Ralis and Corwin walked through the northwestern corner of the outer ward, listening to as much conversations among the crusaders as they could while trying not to act suspicious or draw attention to themselves.

Corwin heard someone nearby shouting: "Treacherous cow! I'll cut your lying tongue from your mouth!"

"Try it, Corinth! Try it and see what happens!" A woman's voice shouted back.

"Shut it, the both of you! Everyone SHUT THE HELLS UP!" Another man's voice exclaimed.

Corwin didn't know which direction the arguing came from, but she didn't want to get too curious and get involved with something that doesn't involve Skie or herself. Besides, she didn't want to stray away from Ralis' side, he felt like safe harbor for her among an ocean of enemies that will give no quarter to their enemies.

"Do you see her anywhere?" Ralis whispered to Corwin as they headed east, walking by tent after tent, crusader after crusader.

"No," was her only reply.

Ralis and Corwin also caught glimpses of some crusaders praying to gods like Helm, Tempus, Torm, Tyr, Clangeddin, Corellon, and they saw a few giants pray to Stronmaus, the giant deity of the sun, sky and weather. Gnome crusaders prayed to Garl Glittergold, and half-dragon crusaders prayed to Bahamut, the dragon god of justice. The crusaders who were not praying were doing all kinds of manual labor, moving debris so no one will get injured while walking around, constructing makeshift fences to divide tents in a certain area so no one will be confused about what area to find their tents in, and training recruits.

"You have been chosen not because you are the strongest or the wisest, but because all of you have light within you that is waiting to shine bright," Ralis and Corwin overheard one of the instructors, an elderly human man tell his recruits nearby, close to the walls that separate the outer ward from the inner ward of the castle.

After 20 minutes of walking, Ralis and Corwin found themselves at the rear end of the castle's outer ward, behind the tall walls of the castle's inner ward, and they still haven't found Skie yet. The whole place is crawling with crusaders, yet no one took notice of them, believing them to be fellow crusaders, nothing more. Corwin and Ralis saw a ruined shrine 30 feet away south from where they stood, but it held no interest to them, they were more worried about Skie's whereabouts.

"I don't think she is around here," Corwin whispered.

"I think we might have slipped past her and didn't know it," Ralis whispered back.

Corwin shook her head.

"Maybe if we walk around with our helmets off, she will recognize us," Corwin guessed, removing her helmet.

Ralis, however, was reluctant to do this. _Or someone like Caelar might see us first,_ he remarked in his thoughts, but he removed his helmet anyway, and followed Corwin towards the ruined shrine.

The closer they got to the ruined shrine, the more easily Corwin recognized it. She assumed that this must be the The Hold of Battle Lions. She heard a rumor months ago before their departure from Baldur's Gate that after the first Dragonspear War, when the armies of Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep liberated Dragonspear Castle, they built a shrine to Tempus within the castle. If this is the shrine they constructed, it has somehow fallen to ruin, a shadow of its former glory. Corwin and Ralis passed under the damaged archway with the Tempus's symbol above, a flaming silver sword on a blood red colored shield on the arch. Much of the shrine's structure has been reduced to rubble and ruin. Just when Ralis and Corwin thought they were alone in the ruins, they saw four men up ahead, having a private conversation.

"... Just make sure to stay on Ashatiel's good side," one of the men said, the only man who is not wearing a helmet.

Corwin thought she recognized the man who spoke about Ashatiel, and when she got a good look at his unobscured face, she groaned.

"Oh, bind ME... Ralis, come here." Then she suddenly grabbed Ralis by his shoulders and pulled him with her behind a wall so that none of the men ahead caught a glimpse of them. "We've got to get back to camp," she told him urgently.

"But we haven't found Skie yet. What's wrong?" Ralis protested quietly.

Corwin swallowed hard before speaking. "I just saw a face I'd hoped never to see again," she said. She instructed Ralis to peer past the wall to get a glimpse of the men speaking to each other, who never noticed Ralis and Corwin watching them. "That man over there," Corwin pointed at the man who is not wearing a helmet, exposing his curly black hair. As far as Ralis could tell, the man is dark skinned, but in the sun's light, he could tell that his skin is much lighter compared to Dynaheir's skin, though. "... I killed him once. And then four more times," Corwin explained. When she saw the confusion on Ralis' face, she added: "I don't want to talk about it."

"You slew a single man five times and you don't want to speak of it? Had I done such a thing, I'd speak of little else," Ralis whispered.

"It was a personal matter. And his family has powerful friends in the Lathanderian clergy, so I knew he wouldn't stay dead. Well, I didn't KNOW it, but hearing he's back has never surprised me. I'd hoped our last meeting would stay our last. Let's just get out of here, before he recognizes me." Corwin started to walk away, but Ralis pulled her back to him.

"Who is he, Corwin? Why are you afraid of him?" He asked.

Corwin shook her head. "His name's Beno Famari (pronounced "Bay-No"). And it's not him I'm worried about, it's the hundreds of crusaders that'll come running of we cross paths. Because if that happens, there's a better than good chance I'll kill him again."

"I need to know what is really going on between you two, Corwin," Ralis urged.

Corwin grunted in defeat. "Fine. Beno and I were... together. It was a long time ago, and it didn't end well, especially for him. I got Rohma, so I'm not complaining," she said with a shrug, unable to keep eye contact on Ralis.

Ralis blinked in shock, finally realizing what Schael and Beno have likely done when they were together, in a time when Schael was immature and rambunctious as Skie.

"He is Rohma's father?" He asked in surprise.

Corwin nodded sullenly. "He was there when she was conceived. He was never her father. When I told him about Rohma... I was young and stupid then. Becoming a mother smartened me up fast. Whatever I do in this life, whatever regrets I have, Rohma is not one of them. She never will be. I love her. Which is just one of the many reasons I'd rather avoid dying here."

"Yet you left your daughter to go battle an army of religious zealots hundreds of miles away," Ralis remarked.

Corwin almost got offended by his remark, but she knew that he Coast to the point when the future looks bleak for Rohma and every inhabitant in Baldur's Gate is like choosing which poison to drink.

"There are three things that matter to me, Ralis. My daughter, my father, and the Flaming Fist. Each saved me, in their own way. When one of them calls on me, I answer. Always. If you really think I should talk to him, I will, but I'm telling you it's not a good idea," Schael warned Ralis.

"We have to try, Corwin," Ralis insisted.

Corwin sighed. "If you insist. But whatever happens is on your head."

Then at that moment, Ralis and Corwin steadily approached Beno and his friends. As they neared closer and closer, one, then two then three of Beno's friends noticed them approaching. When the man Beno was talking to shifted his gaze towards Ralis and Corwin approaching, Beno became the last person to spot Ralis and Corwin. He clearly did not recognize Ralis, but when his eyes focused on Corwin, he almost immediately recognized her.

"Helm's steely eye... Schael? Is that you?" Beno asked with an amused smile.

Ralis noticed that Beno has facial hair, a trimmed mustache and beard, a feature he never noticed with his head turned back at the moment when Corwin pointed him out.

"Beno," Corwin spat as if the man's name is a bad taste in her mouth.

"This is no time to chat with your old friend, Corwin. The Shining Lady's business must be done without delay," Ralis said, tugging on Corwin's right arm, playing the part of a devout crusader eager to follow Caelar's instructions.

Corwin nodded at Ralis then turned her focus to Beno. "I have to go, Beno. We're on important business."

Beno nodded. "Far be it from me to stand in the way of one doing the Shining Lady's bidding. If that IS what you're doing," Beno said, still smirking. "I'm surprised, Schael. You were always so loyal to the Flaming Fist. What made you turn to Caelar?"

"Corwin and I heard the truth of the Shining Lady's words. We joined together," Ralis answered for Corwin.

Beno crossed his arms. "The Schael Corwin I know would never turn on the Flaming Fist. That was why things turned sour between us."

"That had nothing to do with what happened to us, Beno, and you know it," Corwin blurted out defensively. "I'm not who I was when we were together. Motherhood opened my eyes. I want more from life than what the Fist promised. Is that so hard to believe?"

Beno chuckled. "Just answer me one question, Schael. Just one question and I'll let you be on your way. How is... What's her name? Rohma, yes? How is my daughter?"

Corwin curled her hands into fists, trying to restrain herself with all the discipline she has as a Flaming Fist captain.

"From what I've heard, you didn't want anything to do with Rohma. Why do you care now?" Ralis asked.

"I have a right to know about my child," Beno replied firmly.

"You abandoned Schael and your daughter years ago. She owes you nothing," Ralis shot back.

"Oooh!" Beno's friends exclaimed in amusement.

Beno smirked again. "You've got an awfully possessive tone in your voice, friend. Could it be Schael Corwin's suckered another fool into her arms?"

"She's an incredible woman. You were a fool to let her go," Ralis snapped, feeling his anger begin to boil over, then he felt Corwin's hands grab his left arm.

"Ralis, stop. You're giving him what he wants. Let's go," she said.

"That's right, you should go. Before I tell you what your new lady is really like," Beno said with a smug smile as if he has an ace up his sleeve.

"What do you mean by that?" Ralis asked in curiosity.

"She puts up a great front. Strait-laced Schael, daughter of the ever-stoic Audamar. Bet she didn't tell you about her younger days, running around with all types of men, getting them into trouble. Take care. She'll ruin you like she did me," Beno replied, crossing his arms, still smirking.

"I'd committed to changing when we met, Beno. I wanted a new life. We might have made it work if you hadn't left," Corwin counter-argued.

"The past is the past. I know who you are now, Corwin. That's all that matters to me," Ralis said.

"I've more important things to do than talk right now. The Shining Lady bid us ready ourselves for the attack just as soon as she and Hephernaan finish whatever they're up to in the castle. Get on your way," Beno said.

Ralis nodded, turned his back on Beno and his friends and walked away, with Corwin walking alongside him. They headed west, with the intention of walking around the walls of the castle's inner ward clockwise instead of retracing their steps back the way they came, believing that they might run into Skie in a place they haven't been to yet. When they walked 30 feet away from the ruins of The Hold of Battle Lions shrine, Corwin decided that now is the time to speak to Ralis about her personal matters about Beno.

"I thought, after all this time, he wouldn't be able to hurt me anymore. Or at least that I'd be less angry," she said sullenly.

"He was a big part of your life. Of course you'd still feel emotional about him," Ralis said.

Suddenly Corwin felt her arm muscles tense up. "I just..." She began to say, raising her forearms up to her chest, her hands curled into fists, and she tried to suppress her anger as it nearly erupted like a volcano. "... Every time I see him I want to claw his eyes out. I hate that he can still rile me up like that. I wish I could ignore him. Forget him."

"He's Rohma's father, even if he was never around for her. Your reactions are perfectly natural, Schael," Ralis assured her.

Corwin finally calmed down, lapsing into sadness. "I worry so much about Rohma. Whenever I look at Skie Silvershield, I think..." Corwin forced a smile when she looked at Ralis. "... Well, this might amuse you, but I was a lot like Skie at her age. i didn't appreciate what I had, and I thought the world owed me everything."

"I think you told me this before. Anyway, we all do foolish thing in our youth. Well, most of us. Some of us are locked up in a library because we're the spawn of evil gods," Ralis said.

"I grew out of my wild behavior eventually, thanks to my father, Skie hasn't, though. Maybe she never will. What if Rohma turns out like that because I wasn't there enough for her?"

Ralis was about to say something, but Corwin cut him off. "No point in dwelling on that now. I just wanted to say thank you. That was difficult, but it helped having you by my side."

"Don't mention it, Corwin, that's what friends are for," Ralis replied.

* * *

Corwin and Ralis spent the next 30 minutes searching for Skie in the outer ward of the castle. In their disguise as low ranked crusaders, the elites guarding the gates to the castle's inner ward refuse to let non-elite crusaders and crusader mercenaries enter the castle, so Ralis and Corwin knew that Skie must be somewhere here in the castle's outer ward.

Thirty minutes after their meeting with Beno, Ralis and Corwin returned to the part of the castle near the only way in and out of the castle. There, they heard a few crusaders talking among each other about how a group of crusader mercenaries caught a low ranked crusader trying to steal something that belongs to them, and now they escored the thief out of the castle to punish her outside. Ralis and Corwin knew right then that they must be talking about Skie. They headed for the castle's exit, leaving the castle and headed straight into the forests. They didn't know exactly where the mercenaries took Skie to, but they were not far, they could hear Skie and the mercenaries grunting and shouting, so all Ralis and Corwin had to do is follow the noise.

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone, you animals!" Skie exclaimed.

"That's Skie's voice all right," Corwin confirmed to Ralis as they ran past tree after tree.

"We take our orders from Caelar Argent, girl- not from you!" One of the mercenaries exclaimed.

Ralis and Corwin couldn't tell which one of the mercenaries said that, the trees ahead of them obscured their view of Skie and her captors, but they were close enough to be heard. Once Ralis and Corwin caught up to them, they saw that Skie had been accosted by three crusader mercenaries, all human men, one had short brown hair, the other had white hair, and the other is bald with sideburns and a mean look in his eyes.

"Let the girl go, mercenaries, or Caelar will know of your deeds this morning- and she will not be pleased by them, I promise you that," Ralis warned them, catching their attention.

Skie is apparently surprised, yet happy to see both Ralis and Corwin.

"Who are you, then?" The bald man asked.

"I am the last thing you'll see in this life if you don't release the woman and leave this place. NOW," Ralis warned them, slowly reaching for his dirk.

"Ralis! Help me, please! They're going to kill me!" Skie pleaded.

"Enough of this nonsense. Cut 'em down!" The bald mercenary exclaimed.

Ralis grabbed the handle of his dirk and threw it at the mercenary closest to Skie. The mercenary closest to Skie tried to pull out his short sword so that he can stab or cut down Skie before Ralis and Corwin can attack him, but fortunately Ralis anticipated the mercenary's move, and now the dirk's blade lodged itself deeply into the man's throat. The mercenary dropped his blade and slowly sagged to his knees, choking. The other two mercenaries pulled their swords out of their scabbards while Ralis and Corwin charged at them. Corwin had no melee weapons to use against them, she is a more proficient archer than anything else, but she charged at the mercenary anyway, and grabbed his sword arm befor he could take a swing at her, then he briught his leg up and his knee hit her on the left side of her ribs, knocking air out of her lungs, but she held on tight to the man's arms and headbutted him in the face, ignoring the stabbing pain in her left rib.

While that was happening, Ralis engaged the white haired mercenary standing close to Skie and the dying mercenary who had already sunk down on his knees. When Ralis got close enough to him, he, like Corwin, grabbed his sword arm, which happened to be his left hand, with his right hand, then Ralis reached out at the dying merc with his left hand, grabbed the dirk and pulled it out of his neck, causing a waterfall of ruby red blood to gush out the wound, and the merc let out one final gasp before collapsing on his back, lifeless as a rag doll. With the bloodstained blade, Ralis began to stab at the other mercenary's abdomen several times while his right hand still held his sword arm, putting the mercenary at a severe disadvantage. The other mercenary that is fighting Corwin is at a disadvantage too- his nose is broken, bleeding profusely after Corwin headbutted him, then Corwin took one of her arrows out of her quiver and jabbed the arrowhead into the man's neck. Soon the last two mercenaries died from their wounds, and Ralis and Corwin emerged victorious even though they were slightly outnumbered, and Skie was too terrified to assist them.

"Skie, are you okay?" Ralis asked after wiping the blood off his dirk.

"What is this, Ralis? What are you doing here?" Skie asked him.

"Corwin and I are here looking for you. You left camp without telling anybody. What the hells, Skie?" Ralis replied, trying not to lose his temper.

"I'm spying on Dragonspear, watching the crusaders for weaknesses we can exploit," Skie explained with a confident smirk.

"What have you learned?" Ralis asked.

Skie shrugged. "They're just as boring as the Flaming Fist. All they do is work and pray. The most interesting thing I learned from them is that they have plans to move tons of food, water and weapons through some underground caverns from this creepy sounding place called Dead Man's Pass. And that was not interesting AT ALL."

Ralis blinked in amusement. Nederlok, Stonehand and deLancie's intelligence is based on flimsy information, they aren't entirely sure that one of the underground caverns to Dragonspear Castle is at Dead Man's Pass. Like Nederlok said, torture may get you answers, but not always the truth, and Skie has learned the truth on her own initiative.

"That is... actually useful, Skie. Good work. Now you should return to the camp," Ralis said.

Skie's eyes widened in surprise, she did not expect Ralis to say that. "I did good...? Really?" She asked, excitement welling up in her tone. "I mean, yeah, of course. I knew that would be important," she said, changing her tone to be more professional.

"Taking risks isn't always a bad thing, Skie, but you have to know what you are risking. The crusaders are dangerous. We need to keep you safe. It's what your father wants," Corwin said.

Skie rolled her eyes. "When my dad was my age, he was already a hero. No one thinks I can be a hero too, but they're wrong," she said to Corwin, then turned her eyes on Ralis. "I'm glad YOU at least see that I've got something to offer. Take care, Ralis," she said, then walked off to find the spot where she left her Flaming Fist recruit body armor, and get undressed out of the crusader armor she stole.

"You handled that well, Ralis. I feared you'd be much harsher with her," Corwin said, placing her right arm on his left shoulder.

"I wanted to be. Believe me, I wanted to. But someone's got to keep the girl safe," Ralis said, looking back at Corwin.

She nodded in agreement. "There are some things a girl needs to learn on her own. Skie might have learned a lession if faced with the consequences of her actions- but she'd probably be dead too."

"Sounds like you are speaking from experience," Ralis remarked.

At that moment, he and Corwin began to walk the same direction Skie went, since the crusaders they stole their armor from are in the same direction.

"Ha. My father let me fall down a lot. At the time, it made me angry. I thought I'd never forgive him. Then I realized how hard it was for him to let me struggle- and fail- on my own. It made me the woman I am," Corwin said.

"A woman I'm very glad to know," Ralis smiled at her and gave her a friendly pat on the back, slapping the metal plate of the crusader plate mail armor.

Corwin smiled at him. "Flatterer. I'm glad to know you too. now let's get going."

They found where they left their own armor, undressed out of the crusader armor, put on their own armor, regrouped with Skie and took the long walk back to the coalition camp.


	14. Chapter 14 Secrets Not Known part 2

Though the walk was long, Ralis, Corwin and Skie made it back to the coalition camp unharmed, which surprised Corwin because it felt to her as if Caelar's crusade let them come into Dragonspear Castle and leave. either the crusade's security is shoddy, or they are under orders not to attack anyone unless provoked. By the time they returned, it is evening, and they were already tired fromwalking up to Dragonspear Castle and back.

"You had good intentions, Skie. Reckless, but good, but you need to think carefully instead of acting impulsively. We're a team. You should have let us know what you were doing," Ralis said to Skie after they passed by Wilch and the other guards guarding the entrance into the coalition camp.

"He's right. I know you are eager to prove your worth to the Flaming Fist, but don't do it in a reckless manner."

"But isn't that what we do every day? Take risks?" Skie countered.

"Yes, but not recklessly, Skie. You should have told me or Nederlok what you planned on doing," Corwin said while being careful not to bump into anyone she walked by.

Skie frowned over at Corwin. "What? If I did that, he would stop me from doing what I needed to do. Besides, if it weren't for me taking initiative, Ralis would have never learned that there's a secret entrance into Dragonspear Castle from Dead Man's Pass."

"Actually, deLancie, Nederlok and Stonehand already knew about this, they just weren't sure if their intelligence was accurate. Now, thanks to you, Skie, you confirmed that their intelligence is indeed accurate," Ralis corrected her.

Skie blinked at him, but said nothing at first, but had her mouth open as if she wanted to say something, but she closed her lips instead for a few seconds. "... At least I've done that much. If I hadn't, you'd probably be off on some wild goose chase," she finally said.

Ralis, Skie and Corwin went to the Flaming fist section of the coalition camp, and they searched for Marshal Nederlok, finding him near his tent giving instructions to three Flaming Fist scouts. None of them wore helmets, so it is easy to tell that all three are human men, one with short black hair, one with curly brown hair and another that is bald.

"... I expect routine checks around our perimeter every two hours, understand? We cannot rule out the possibility that the crusaders have their own scouts searching for weaknesses in our camp," Nederlok instructed the three men.

"Yes, sir, Marshal Nederlok," the man with the curly brown hair said, then he and his two fellow scouts gave Nederlok a formal salute before leaving, and at that moment, Ralis, Corwin and Skie approached Nederlok from behind him.

"Captain Corwin, sir. Corporal Duncan told us about Skie's sudden disappearance," Corwin said, and Nederlok turned around to face them as soon as he heard her voice.

"Here she is, sir. We've located Skie and brought her back safe and sound," Ralis said.

Nederlok sighed in relief. "Thank the gods. I don't know what Duke Silvershield would have done if anything happened to his daughter. I appreciate you taking care of this, Ralis." Then he turned his gaze to Skie. "As for you, recruit "Goldbuckler", I am assigning you to filling sandbags for the next few days. That should keep out out of trouble for a while."

Skie blinked in disbelief. "What? ... Well, all right. It's better than doing exercise drills, I suppose," she said with a shrug, then Nederlok led her away from Ralis and Corwin.

"Let's find Neera and the others and prepare for a journey to Dead Man's Pass," Ralis told Corwin.

"All right," Corwin nodded in agreement and departed with the hero of Baldur's Gate.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dorn Il-Khan is sharpening his sword, Rancor, on a grindstone, his legs working the pedals that cause the wheel to spin and sharpen the edges of his blade. He has been doing this for the past six minutes, making sure that no edge of his blade is dull. His legs ached from pedaling for three minutes, but he mentally blocked out the pain and kept going. He heard footsteps approaching behind him, and looked over his left shoulder to see the male drow Baeloth approaching him, examining him like how a customer at a market sizes up an interesting item.

"By Lolth's legs! You are a scrappy little shaper, Dorn! Ever flirted with fighting to a fatal finish for fun and profit? Mostly profit." He asked the half-orc.

Dorn stopped pedaling then turned his body to the left side, still sitting on the seat of the grindstone, the blade planted downwards towards the ground, and Dorn rested his hands on the bottom of the hilt. "... Yes. My own fun. And my master's profit," he said with a toothy grin, showing his teeth and orc tusks.

The expectant smile on Baeloth's face fell away after Dorn made his reply. "Ah. You already retain representation, then."

"My patron supplies me with all that I need," Dorn said firmly.

Baeloth silently cursed. For the past few days he has been secretly formulating a plan to get revenge on the six surfacers who are the champions of The Black Pits and is now roaming Faerun freely, celebrating their survival, he just needs to recruit a few adventurers and/or mercenaries that are strong enough to put up a good fight against the six rebellious champions of The Black Pits, and he hoped that a blackguard like Dorn would be willing to take part in his scheme for profit, but that's not going to happen.

"... Well, should that situation shift, seek me out. I can steer you to a storied stature you never supposed secureable."

Dorn's scowl became more sharper after Baeloth said that, and he had half a mind to choke Baeloth for trying to anticipate and take advantage of his desires.

"Do not delude yourself into believing you comprehend the scope of my ambition, drow. Begone."

Baeloth had no choice but to walk away and leave Dorn to continue sharpening his blade. Banking on the blackguard to volunteer on taking part in a tournament where fighters fight to the death was a long shot, anyway. No one would ever say "yes" to an offer from a drow. Dorn continued grinding his blade on the grindstone's wheel after Baeloth left, making sure Rancor is sharpened on both sides from the crossguard to the point of the blade.

Meanwhile Ralis and Corwin found Neera speaking to Rasaad, Dynaheir and Patrescus near Mizhena's tent, talking among each other about something. As they approached, Ralis and Corwin gradually heard what Neera is saying to them.

"... and so the other guy from Waterdeep asked me: "What else has your wild magic changed on you other than your hair?" I mean, he was real flirty like. Don't get me wrong, he was kinda cute, but I have preferences that he doesn't fit into. Anyway, I leaned towards his ear and gave him the answer."

"What did you say to him?" Patrescus asked curiously.

Neera grinned before replying. "That I have extra teeth somewhere they shouldn't be. And that's in my- _DAMMIT, ADOY! YOU ALWAYS RUIN A GOOD JOKE! GODS, YOU'RE LIKE AN ANNOYING LITTLE BROTHER!_ I don't really have a brother, but _YOU GET MY POINT!_ "

"Okaaay, that's too much information, Neera! Show's over!" Ralis exclaimed, catching Neera, Rasaad and Patrescus' attention.

"Good to see you again, Ralis. And you as well, Captain Corwin."

"Always a pleasure, Rasaad," Corwin nodded courteously. "Did you sleep well this morning?" She asked.

Rasaad shook his head. "I haven't slept well in nearly a year," he admitted.

"Word has been spreading like wildfire about what happened back on Boareskyr Bridge," Patrescus informed Ralis.

"So I've heard," Ralis nodded, looking rather sullen.

Patrescus walked over to Ralis and put his right hand on Ralis' left shoulder.

"I just want you to know that few people do not think ill of you. But you should keep in mind that everyone here in this coalition camp will be watching your every move closely. Prove to them that you are not what they fear you might be."

Ralis nodded in agreement. "Thank you for the advice, Patrescus."

Before anyone could say anything else, Neera cleared her throat to get attention, then Patrescus, Ralis, Corwin and Rasaad turned to look at her.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt the ol' moral pep talk and all that, but you promised me a potion of clarity if I did that thing for you, and I've done it, so, pay up, please," Neera said to Patrescus, holding her right hand out in preparation to receive the potion.

Patrescus nodded and reached into one of his robe pockets. "Of course, Neera. I have not forgotten our agreement," he said, then he pulled out the potion of clarity and handed it to Neera.

As soon as the small vial was put in Neera's hands, her eyes widened as she stared at the vial resting in between her hands, as if it were some valued treasure she had been searching for a long time.

"Yes! Finally! Now, last but not least, I need a few leaves from a belladonna bush, then I'll have everything I need to make that special potion that will forever free me from Adoy's annoying ramblings," Neera turned to Ralis and Corwin. "So, what are we waiting for? Onward to adventure!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, pointing north dramatically.

"I admire how eager you are to leave, Neera, but we need to make preparations, first. We-" Ralis cut off what he was saying when he felt someone tap his shoulder and say:

"Um, excuse me, are you the hero of Baldur's Gate?"

Ralis and Corwin turned around to see two human men standing behind them, and judging by the dagger emblem on the breastplate of their armor, they are Daggerford soldiers.

"Ho there, I am Damius of Daggerford. My friend here is Sempek," the soldier with short black hair said, and pointed back at his friend who has brown hair and green eyes. "We, uh, have a problem, and we need your help to fix it. Could you come hear us out, please?" Damius asked.

Ralis glanced over at Corwin and she gave him a look that let him know that they don't have much time to waste, they should get going with their mission as soon as possible.

"I won't take long, okay? I'll see what these two sods want, and you assemble the group- I want Viconia, Minsc, Dynaheir, Voghiln, Baeloth, Khalid, Jaheira, Neera, Glint, M'khiin and Dorn with us on this mission," Ralis instructed.

"Understood," Corwin said, then they went their separate ways.

* * *

Ralis followed Damius and Sempek up the path towards the northeastern section of the coalition camp to a tent where a dwarf woman is giving free drinks to soldiers. She uses a large block of wood as a bar, and behind her are six large beverage containers called tuns, three holding three different kinds of ale, and the other three holding three different kinds of ciders. After serving a half-elf woman who is a Waterdeep solder a cup of Knee-Cracker cider, Damius walked up to the makeshift bar.

"Damius! Lemme guess. Two flagons of Iriaeboran North Brew for you and Sempek?"

Damius and Sempek burst into uproarious laughter.

"Ah, you know us too well, Diesa," Sempiek said while laughing.

Ralis stood behind the two men, feeling rather clueless to what is so funny.

"I only know the both of ye because ye two are my regulars," Diesa said as she picked up a fresh pair of flagons and walked over to the tun holding the Iriaeboran North Brew for them.

Ralis cleared his throat to get Damius and Sempek's attention.

"So what can I do for you for you two?" He asked.

"Oh! Sorry about that, friend, we nearly forgot. So listen- you look like you've seen your share of violence, am I right?" Damius asked.

Ralis frowned and slowly nodded. "Yes...?" He said slowly, hissing on the "s" in "yes".

"And you're still alive and in reasonably good shape by the looks of you, so I'm guessing you're pretty good at the whole killing of others thing. Am I right?" Sempek asked, looking a bit shifty.

Ralis grew increasingly suspicious of the motives of these two men. He is fully aware that every soldier in the coalition camp knows that he is a child of Bhaal like Sarevok, and as a result, not many people want to speak to him, let alone ask for his autograph. And at that moment, Diesa called Damius and Sempek to get their drinks.

"Why do you ask?"

"There's a gnome in our contingent- his name is Gardnerson," Damius said before drinking his ale.

Ralis blinked in shock, and little did he know, Glint, who is close by drinking suzale overheard what Damius said, spat out his drink in surprise.

"You mean Glint?" Ralis asked.

Damius frowned in confusion. "What? No. His name is Pritchard," he corrected Ralis, then his face contorted with anger. "Pompous jackass, he thinks he's better than the rest of us. He thinks he's in command here. Well, second in command, after General Stonehand."

At that moment Glint revealed himself to Ralis, Damius and Sempek.

"Cousin Pritchard! I KNEW he'd be around here somewhere. Making friends again by the sounds of it. Where can we find him?" Glint asked Damius.

Sempek stroked his chin for a few seconds in thought. "Last I heard, he was badgering Stonehand about strategy, like he knows something about it. find her, and you'll find him. Or at least pieces of him. Stonehand's not known for her patience," he said, and Ralis noticed the look in his eyes that hints that he is hoping Stonehand has tore Pritchard a new anus.

Ralis couldn't ignore the sick, twisting feeling in his gut, he had a hunch that Damius and Sempek expects him to do something... drastic to Pritchard, especially since Damius alluded to the fact that Ralis has a knack at hurting or killing people.

"Come on, Glint. Let's go find your cousin," Ralis said.

It took Ralis and Glint three minutes to find General Stonehand's tent. They had to ask a few soldiers of Daggerford directions to Stonehand's tent. As Glint and Ralis expected when they arrived, they found Pritchard talking to Stonehand outside her tent. Pritchard has brown colored hair unlike Glint, and his hair is fashioned to a mullet, and he has no sideburns. And judging by the annoyed eye roll from Stonehand, Pritchard is telling her something that she either does not want to hear, or agree with.

"If we move now, we can take Caelar's people by surprise!" Pritchard exclaimed, his body bobbing up and down like an excited child.

He and Ralis stopped walking once he said that, twelve yards away from Stonehand's tent, and Stonehand herself shook her head in denial, placing her right hand on her forehead as if she has a headache.

"You don't know that, and even if you did, it's not your decision to make. Just let it go, Pritchard. Like it or not, we aren't the ones who get to make the call," she said.

Glint moved on ahead of Ralis, approaching both Pritchard and Stonehand.

"Pritchard! Cousin, it's me, Glint!" He called as he approached.

Pritchard turned around looking confused and surprised all at once.

"Glint? What are you doing here?" He asked his cousin, taken aback by his hug.

"Mum's been worried about the family. She sent me out to make sure everything's all right. Is it? Are you all right?" Glint asked after releasing his cousin from his embrace.

Frowning in confusion, Pritchard patted himself down from his chest to his kneecaps, then he shrugged. "I daresay I am," he said with surety. "I'm a high-ranking member of the Daggerford militia. We were sent here to deal with that confounded Caelar."

"As were we. My name is Ralis."

Pritchard nodded at the young human. "I've heard of you. You were involved in that... incident on Boareskyr Bridge."

Glint cut in immediately. "Let's not talk about that, cousin. How is Aunt Wellsy? And Uncle Morsk?"

"They're fine, Glint. Mother and father are both fine. Tell Auntie next time you see her. Now excuse me, please. I've important matters that require my attention. We can talk properly when this situation with Caelar is finally resolved."

Pritchard turned his attention back to General Stonehand behind him.

"Now, as I was saying, if we-"

"For the last time, Pritchard, we don't have the authority to make that call. How many times must I tell you?" Stonehand interrupted him, the tone of her voice hinting that she has grown a bit more annoyed than before.

Ralis and Glint walked away as soon as General Stonehand said that to Pritchard.

"How can anyone deal with him? He won't listen to reason," Ralis said to Glint.

Glint nodded with a soft moan. "Yes, well, he can be a bit of a handful. He's difficult enough under normal circumstances. Give him any kind of power, and, well, it goes straight to his head. If he stays in this camp, I guarantee you he's going to rub someone the wrong way- probably several someones. They're going to hurt him, or worse, kill him. Kill him repeatedly, if history's anything to judge by," he said with a worried frown.

"So you want me to beat your cousin to a bloody pulp?" Ralis asked.

"Exactly," Glint confirmed with a nod, though the look in his eyes tells Ralis that he wishes for an alternative.

"Don't you think this is a little extreme?" Ralis asked, his heart pounding nervously at the thought of being caught punching Pritchard, especially when everyone in the coalition camp knows or heard what happend at Boareskyr Bridge.

Glint shook his head. "You don't know Pritchard the way I do. There's only one way to get any message through that thick skull of his. Words alone just won't do it."

Ralis was considering refusing Glint's request, but an idea came to him. If Stonehand allows him to beat up Pritchard in her tent, then they will be fine.

"Very well. I'll do this for you," he finally agreed.

"Thank you, Ralis. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," Glint said.

They returned to Stonehand's tent, finding Pritchard and Stonehand still arguing.

"Damn it all, Stonehand! Listen to what I'm saying!" Pritchard exclaimed in frustration.

"I've listened, Pritchard. I listened once, then listened again, then I listened a dozen more times!" Stonehand replied, trying to tolerate the gnome's stubbornness. "Now I'm done listening. Open your mouth again and I move on to horrible maiming!"

Before Pritchard could utter another word, Ralis spoke up.

"Hey! Pritchard! Can I speak to you for just a moment?"

He saw the young human with his cousin approaching him and his superior, and he sighed in disappointment at the interruption they caused.

"We've been discussing important strategic matters. What do you want?" He asked.

"Quartermaster Belegarm wanted me to find you. He's got a gnomish item he thinks you'll find very interesting," Ralis informed him.

Pritchard lifted his right eyebrow in amusement. "Oh did he now? Intriguing." Then he nodded to Stonehand. "General Stonehand, if you'd excuse me?"

Stonehand nodded in approval. "Gladly. Take as much time as you need. Take MORE than that, even. The whole morning, if you have to. I could use some peace," she said with a relieved smirk.

Then Pritchard took a step towards Ralis and Glint, then Ralis held up his right hand signaling Pritchard to stop.

"Inside Stonehand's tent would suffice," he suggested.

"All right," Pritchard nodded without hesitaiton, then he turned around and stepped into Stonehand's tent first, and Ralis followed.

Glint stayed outside with Stonehand.

"What is going on?" Stonehand asked Glint.

"Believe me when I tell you, that my friend Ralis is doing us all a big favor," Glint said with a worried look on his face.

He wished that there are less brutal methods to convince Pritchard to step down as Stonehand's second in command, or better yet, leave the coalition camp, but there is no other way.

Inside Stonehand's tent, Pritchard turned to face Ralis.

"So this item your quartermaster has for me- what is it?" Pritchard asked Ralis.

 _Here we go... Torm forgive me..._ Ralis thought woefully as he slowly reached for his bag.

"It's... right here," Ralis said, then the moment Pritchard blinked his eyes, Ralis quickly pulled his right hand out of his bag and backhanded Pritchard across his forehead so hard he reeled and fell back on his rump.

Pritchard now had a throbbing headache, and he had a hard time comprehending what just happened. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but the moment he opened his eyes from blinking, he saw Ralis's fist fly towards his head, smacking him so hard he saw stars dancing around his eyes.

"What are you doing-?" Pritchard managed to say before Ralis kicked him in the face, nearly breaking his nose and he fell on his back.

"Help! _Oof! Unh!_ Someone! _Oof! Oof!_ Help me!" Pritchard yelled ad Ralis continued pummeling his forehead, and the world around Pritchard's eyes were beginning to fade to black.

Ralis had to remind himself that he is doing this for Glint, not for Damius and Sempek. After punching his head for the 6th time, he stopped assaulting the gnome, and just in time because Pritchard was one punch away from blacking out, and his forehead is all bruised with a few cuts, leaking drops of blood. When Ralis let him stand up on his feet, Pritchard couldn't keep his balance, he wobbled back and forth, and everything his eyes could seemed to swirl around, including Ralis.

"Mercy! Please, show mercy, I beg you!" Pritchard exclaimed fearfully as he tried to back away from Ralis and he lost his balance and fell on his rump again.

"That's enough, Ralis," Glint said, entering the tent.

Though his eye vision is still blurred and swirling, he recognized the swirling figure that entered the tent behind Ralis.

"Glint? Cousin? What's goin' on- I don't understand..." Pritchard stuttered.

"I'm sorry, Pritchard. You've got to leave the camp. Go back to Daggerford," Glint said.

"But- why...?" Pritchard whined.

"Because Glint fears for your life, Pritchard. There are people here who find you annoying so much that they soon mean to harm you, even worse than you are now. Two Daggerford soldiers named Sempek and Damius sent me to take care of you, but I'm doing this for Glint. As hard as it may believe, we did this out of love," Ralis explained.

Glint walked over to Pritchard and used the Cure Minor Wounds spell on Pritchard, and the bruises and cuts on Pritchard's forehead disappeared. "Mum would never forgive me if I let you die, Pritchard. You've got to get out of here."

Pritchard slowly shook his head in denial. "This was going to be my chance... I was going to prove myself..." He muttered sadly.

Glint placed both hands on his cousin's shoulders. "You're a good man, Pritchard. Don't become a good dead man."

Pritchard nodded slowly. "All- all right. I'll go. Here, take this dagger," He reached into his belt and pulled out a dagger, handing it to Glint. "It was Father's. He used it during the last two Dragonspear Wars. It's only fitting a Gardnersonson fighting this one wield it now. Goodbye, cousin. Farewell."

Ralis finally understood why Pritchard is so eager to take on Caelar and her crusaders. It is because he admires his father, who fought in both of the Dragonspear Wars. With Caelar's crusade on the verge of starting a third Dragonspear War, Pritchard wants to prove to everyone in Daggerford that the apple did not fall far from the tree, that he can be a honorable soldier just like his father before him.

Glint smiled. "Ah, that's a wonderful sentiment, Pritchard. I mean- I'm a cleric, so I'm not meant to actually wield it in the strictest sense of the word, but I'll carry it. As a Gardnersonson, proudly, I'll carry it.

"You don't like it," Pritchard stated with a sad frown.

"No, no, no, no, I do like it. I love it! I'll treasure it always."

"You just won't ever use it. Fine, that's all right. You're a cleric. I understand. I get it. I'll be going now. Luck to you in, you know. All of this. Farewell."

Ralis and glint followed Pritchard out of the coalition camp, and he walked away, with Ralis and Glint watching his departure from the camp entrance. Pritchard took one last look at his cousin and waved goodbye. Now, for the next 20 minutes, Ralis and Glint made preparations to begin the expedition to Dead Man's Pass, refilling their stock of arrows and crossbow bolts, etc. And as Ralis requested to Corwin, he handpicked Viconia, Minsc, Dynaheir, Voghiln, Baeloth, Khalid, Jaheira, Neera, Glint, M'khiin and Dorn to come with him to Dead Man's Pass, and Dorn is the one carrying Phossey's barrel of bwoosh. They departed the coalition camp 3 hours away from midday.

* * *

Forty-five minutes have passed since they passed by The Trade Way road heading northeast into the forests several miles south from Dragonspear Castle, and now Minsc is carrying the barrel of bwoosh. Khalid stayed by Jaheira's side as they traveled with everyone else through the dense forests, Khalid had no intention of distancing himself from his wife. Everyone else stayed behind Viconia, Baeloth Dorn and M'khiin while Ralis walked ahead of them with Corwin and M'khiin by his side. Dynaheir and Jahiera were worried about Ralis trusting Dorn, Baeloth, Viconia and M'khiin into his group, but they knew that whether Ralis wants them to tag along or not is up to him. Dorn, Viconia, M'khiin and Baeloth were no fools, they knew that Ralis is the only person who tolerates their presence. Dorn was, however, simultaneously surprised and not surprised that Ralis let a goblin join his group. Dorn knew that unlike most humans, Ralis is not picky about who he invites into his party, he is not blinded by prejudice, something that Dorn found slightly amusing.

"We have something in common, goblin," Dorn said to M'khiin. "To the humans, the elves, we are monsters, nothing more."

M'khiin never looked over her shoulder at Dorn, but she nodded. "Let 'em think that. Maybe safer that way," she said indifferently.

"Were we not aligned with the hero of Baldur's Gate, they would kill you without a second thought. Or in many cases, the first one," Dorn said.

M'khiin shrugged. "Just want 'em to think enough times that they don't kill me."

"And if Caelar, or one of her lackeys removes your protector permanently?" Dorn asked.

M'khiin rolled her eyes. "If this, if that. Can't worry about ifs. Too many of them. What is, is all that matters."

"So what you are saying is you don't worry about the future, you focus on the present day?" Ralis asked the she-goblin.

"Yes, that is exactly what I meant. Anything could happen tomorrow. Some things that you never expect could happen. So why waste time worrying about what might happen?" M'khiin said, then jumped over a twig that is thick as an adult human's arm.

Baeloth chuckled, causing Viconia, Dorn and Ralis to look back at him.

" _Vel'bol zhah ji fa'narow, jaluk? (What is so funny, male?)_ " Viconia asked Beaeloth, frowning in annoyance.

"Hey! Speak Common, or not at all!" Jaheira demanded further behind the group, behind Glint and Voghiln.

"Oh, nothing, it's just our fleeceable "friend" over here has a rather counterintuitive conclusion. She says that she doesn't think of the ifs, but contrary to what she thinks, thinking of the ifs are what keeps us alive," Baeloth explained.

Viconia nodded, understanding what the male drow is talking about. Ignoring what might happen in the near future is foolish.

"I believe I understand what you mean. A witless fool is just as foolish as a trusting fool. You are not as stupid as I thought, for a simpering male," Viconia said.

"It all comes with the territory, my dear," Baeloth said and winked at her.

" _Vith'ir (F**k you)._ Better yet, _vith_ the wild mage," Viconia rudely brushed him off.

Baeloth turned his head to look over at Neera. "Aha. Sorry. Half-elves are not my type," he told Viconia.

"Hey! What the heck does "vith" mean?" Neera called over to Viconia, and she got no reply.

The group continued walking through the forest in silence for the next 57 minutes, staying alert for any predators that are bold enough to jump out of a bush or other foliage and attack them. Neera kept a close watch for belladonna flower bushes, the final ingredient for her potion, but so far, they have not come across any, even after 57 minutes passed. Neera began to worry if they come across the crusade's entrance to the underground caverns soon, she will miss her chance to make the potion that will finally rid herself of Adoy's voice in her head. Two minutes later the group was attacked by a pack of worgs, twelve of them. The worg pack did not attack the group head-on, they kept their distance and used strategy, using trees as cover to protect themselves from Corwin's arrows, Glint, Neera and Dynaheir's sling bullets, and they only attacked in pairs, one to distract, the other to attack. As a result, Minsc, Ralis, Voghiln and Dorn suffered minor injuries from the bites of the animals, but their armor saved them from any further injuries. Minsc wore studded leather armor, and his muscular arms are completely unprotected, so his arms got a few scratch marks, even his purple cape received a few tears, but nothing major.

Ralis and Dorn admired these creatures' intelligence- if Ralis' group were of six people or less, they probably would be overwhelmed by this worg pack. But unfortunately for them, Ralis and his party have three secret weapons- Jaheira the druid, Minsc the berserker, and Dorn the blackguard. Viconia and Glint managed to cast the Slow spell on two worgs, allowing Ralis and Khalid to finish them off. Jaheira called upon the trees around them to subdue the worgs, and as luck would have it, the vines nd roots from the trees emerged from the ground, grabbing the remaining worgs and holding them immobile and vulnerable to be attacked. The worgs howled and whined while struggling to get loose form the roots, but Dorn and Minsc silenced them all with their blades, and the group continued moving northeast after all the worgs were dead. Before they departed, however, Jaheira healed Minsc, but she did not bother to heal Dorn, though.

"Minsc has not met many as strong as he is, but you, evil orc man, you may be as strong as Minsc. Perhaps stronger! Minsc does not say that often," Minsc said to Dorn.

The half-orc looked over at him and raised his right eyebrow. ""May be", ranger? Have no doubt of it. I could snap your bones like twigs and leave you lifeless on the ground," Dorn growled.

Minsc obviously was not intimidated at all. "Aha! That is where you are wrong! For Minsc has Boo, and our friend Ralis!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. "Attack Minsc, and you attack us all!"

Dorn blinked twice. "I underestimated you. You offset your weakness, allying yourself with the strong. A shrewd strategy."

"I have no strategy," Minsc admitted. "Just friendship! And that friendship makes Minsc stronger than you will ever be!"

Glint clapped his hands. "Well said, Minsc, my friend! Well said! The power of friendship cannot be beaten easily! It has been proven by history many times over!"

Minsc looked back at Glint and nodded in approval. "See, evil orc man? The gnome understands the value and strength of friendship!"

"A shrewd strategy nonetheless," Dorn said.

Later, Ralis and his party were waylaid by a pack of displacer beasts. During the battle, Neera tried to use her magic to help her friends, but in the end, her unpredictable wild magic ended up doing what Neera did not intend it to do, teleport three of the displacer beasts to a random location 3 miles away from their location. With three of the beasts gone, Ralis and his party had no trouble killing the other four displacer beasts, then they moved on.

Baeloth grew rather amused at Neera's abilities. He has never met a wild mage before, let alone heard of one, but he assumed that the unpredictable effects that her wild magic can cause would be a valuable asset to use against the six individuals who survived The Black Pits and banished him up to the surface. Whether Neera would like to take part in a tournament fight like The Black Pits remains to be seen, though, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"A wily wizardess like you would make a worthy pit warrior. None would know what you might sorcer up next." Baeloth said to her.

 _Oh, there he goes again. What is he trying to pull?_ Corwin thought to herself.

 _"_ Hmm, I can see it. "Neera The Magnificent", they'd call me," Neera said bursting with enthusiasm over the idea. "What will I do to my next opponent? Turn them into a hedgehog, or make their blood acid?"

"It's not as fun as you think, half-elf," M'khiin warned Neera.

"Such spirit!" Baeloth grinned approvingly at Neera. "I shall study your strengths when our current campaign concludes."

"Of course, I'd be just as likely to turn the audience's blood to acid, that would be one downside. But an audience of hedgehogs would be adorable!" Neera added, grinning at the thought of polymorphing a hundred drow into a hundred hedgehogs.

The approving grin on Baeloth slowly faded away. Having a warrior who is capable of unintentionally harming the spectators would be very problematic. "Ahh. I start to see some shortcomings with my speculative assessment of your suitability. Let us leave the matter for the moment."

Neera couldn't blame him for reneging on the idea of inviting her to be a gladiator of sorts in a tournament. Who would want to invite a wild mage, anyway? Now Ralis and his group walked up a hill. Around them there are more and more trees, no distinctive landmarks of any kind could be seen in their vicinity, just more and more trees, and a small hill that they are walking on. The soil of the hill is neither muddy or slippery, and fortunately not steep at all, so Ralis and his party had no trouble going up the hill.

"Be happy he reconsidered, half-elf. Being his pawn of entertainment is not fun at all," M'khiin said to Neera.

"Having no control over your magic is no fun. But you gotta go with the flow, I suppose," Neera said with a sigh.

"So you're saying you won't be worried if your wild magic does us any harm?" Corwin asked Neera urgently.

Neera blinked in surprise and outrage. "Hey, I didn't say that! What I mean is if you cannot control something, why bother trying? Like Adoy once told me, you cannot govern chaos. YES, I REMEMBERED WHAT YOU SAID, ADOY, NOW MAKE LIKE A TREE AND... do what trees do..."

"So what's your point?" Corwin asked Neera.

"My point is the key to true happiness is to accept the fact that you are never in control of what can't be controlled," Neera replied.

When the group reached the top of the hill seconds later, Neera took a careful look around, analyzing her surroundings.

"If anybody sees any special plants, please let me know, it's an urgent matter, okay?" Neera informed her companions.

"It would help us more if we knew what kind of flower you are looking for, Neera," Jaheira said, walking up to her.

Neera felt like slapping herself for not recalling earlier that Jaheira is a druid. With her knowledge and abilities as a druid, she would likely be able to determine the whereabouts of belladonna.

"Okay. Have you heard of belladonna, Jaheira?" Neera asked.

Everyone stopped walking at that moment, and Jaheira frowned sharply, recognizing the name. Belladonna, also known as "wolfsbane", are extremely poisonous herbs that are rumored to cure lycanthropy, meaning the herb can potentially cure someone who has been bitten by a werewolf and therefore is at risk of becoming a werewolf themselves. Unbeknownst to Jaheira, there is a werewolf hunting organization at Baldur's Gate called the "Silver Stake" and they create gas bombs using belladonna herbs.

"Are you serious, girl?! What the hell do you need those for?" Jaheira exclaimed.

"For a potion. Why? I am fully aware that they are poisonous, I just need you to help me find some," Neera said.

Jaheira crossed her arms, scowling sharply at Neera. The half-elf couldn't help fidgeting under her gaze.

"Can you help me? Please?" Neera asked meekly.

Jaheira nodded. "I will help you, but promise me you will not endanger anyone with that herb."

"I won't, trust me," Neera promised.

Jaheira nodded in approval and looked around, analyzing the placement of the trees, the moistness of the soil, anything that would give her a clue to how far they are form the nearest belladonna bush.

"What is she doing?" Voghiln asked Khalid.

"T-t-trying to find clues to where the herbs are l-located. I d-d-don't know how, but she once t-t-told me that nature has many ways of telling you where you are, and where someone or s-s-something is," Khalid replied.

"Huh. And I thought nature is silent and serene," Ralis said.

"To the untrained ears and eyes, yes. If you would spend more of your time out here among nature rather than the stifling stench of what you call "civilization", you would understand," Jaheira said while kneeling down and touching the soil with her right hand fingers.

Ralis rubbed his hands together and grunted. "Well, forgive us for being different from you," he said with sarcasm.

Jaheira didn't bother replying, she focused on deciphering nature's secret messages for the next minute until she finally found out where they need to go.

"The nearest belladona bush is a mile southeast from where we are.," she informed everyone.

"But that takes us away from Dead Man's Pass, I think," Ralis protested.

Neera slapped Ralis in the back of his head.

"Ouch!" he yelped.

"Jeez, Ralis! What is the matter with you! We are doing this for the well being of my sanity, here! Your mission can wait. Don't you want me to be at my best to better help you fight the crusade?" She asked him with incredulity.

Ralis felt ashamed that he became more focused on the mission than the physical and mental health of his companions. He became so eager to learn the secrets of Caelar's crusade that he lost sight of what should matter to him.

"You're right, Neera. I'm sorry. I don't think I have my priorities straight right now. Let's take this quick detour," he said.

Now Ralis and his party headed southeast, which took them back down the hill in the adjacent direction from where they arrived back to flat ground.

* * *

One mile later, they came across three belladonna bushes close to a small cluster of thin trees with only a few brown leaves left hanging on its nearly naked branches, and Dorn is once again carrying the barrel of bwoosh.

"Yes! There they are! We found them!" Neera exclaimed gleefully.

"All right. Let's grab some of those belladonna leaves and be done with this scavenger hunt," Ralis said, approaching the belladonna bushes.

"Belladonna's poisonous, Ralis. Be careful with it," Neera warned him.

Ralis sighed, trying to stay calm and focused. He slowly reached for one of the belladonna leaves, and once his fingers closed around a piece, he carefully pulled it apart from the bushes, then he grabbed two more pieces of herbs, then he returned to Neera, handing the herbs to her. As soon as the herbs were placed in Neera's open hands, she couldn't help smiling so wide, all of her teeth were exposed.

"All right! That's everything I need! LET'S DO THIS! Any time it's convenient for you, of course, Ralis. But, uh. Sooner. Sooner is better. Right now would be best. The next time we set up camp, I can brew this godsforsaken potion and finally silence this godsforsaken mage in my godsforsaken head! YES, I HEARD THAT!" Neera exclaimed like an insane madwoman, then she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Deep breaths, Neera. Okay. Whenever you're good, Ralis, I'm good. Good. I'm good."

"Very well. Let's move," Ralis said, then the group retraced their steps northwest back to the small hill and climbed it, heading north after goign up the hill instead of continuing northeast.

Hours passed to evening and Ralis and his party still have not found any signs of the crusade's presence in Dead Man's Pass. Before the sun completely fell away from the sky, making way for the darkness of the night, Ralis decided to finally make camp.

Voghiln chopped lumber for the fireplace, and everyone else placed their bedrolls on the ground, but as for Neera, she got busy making her special potion for hours. Jaheira was worried about Neera drinking a potion that has the herbal juice of a few belladonna herbs in it, but Neera assured her that the turnip juice is meant to neutralize the poison in the belladonna herbal juice. It took Neera hours to finish the potion, she continued working even when most of her companions were asleep except for Minsc, Dorn, Voghiln and Ralis, who took turns watching over the campsite every two hours. Though Neera gradually grew more and more tired creating the special potion, the possibility of no longer hearing Adoy's voice in her head kept her going, motivating her. Question is, what is in store for Neera and her companions the following day?

* * *

The next morning, Ralis woke up as soon as he heard Neera's voice exclaim:

"IT IS DONE!"

Then she laughed almost in a hysterical manner.

"It is done!" She said again, then looked over at Ralis, seeing him frown at her. "Dramatic, huh? All right... here goes nothin'..."

Neera held the bottle of her special potion up in the air, and slwoly brought the bottle's head to her lips. Jaheira felt her heart pounding in her chest, hoping that Neera is right about the turnip juice neutralizing the poison of the belladonna herbs, because if it doesn't work, the poison will severely weaken her, or in the worst case scenario, kill her. The bottle's head made contact with Neera's lips and she began to drink it. Everyone could clearly hear the sound of Neera gulping the liquid, it nearly drowned out the distant chirping of birds. Voghiln watched Neera drink her potion in sheer admiration, seeing her throat visibly undulating with each gulp she took turned him on.

 _Ho ho! The young half fey woman sure knows how to drink!_ Voghiln smiled.

He has never seen a woman drink a beverage the same way he does. It made him fantasize drinking ale or mead with Neera in a tavern, and having fun in bed with her at a hotel, and his thoughts caused him to have an erection, but fortunately he is still sitting in his bedroll, so no one would see anything embarrassing if they were looking at him.

After drinking the last bit of liquid, Neera pulled the bottle out of her lips and sighed in relief. She then held her left hand up, signaling her companions to be quiet for a moment while she tries to hear Adoy say something in her mind. she didn't hear anything. Nothing but the distant chirping of birds somewhere in this forest. The smile on Neera's face grew wider and wider every second she realized that she can no longer hear Adoy's voice anymore.

Yes. Yes. YES! Silence- blissful, glorious silence! I never thought I'd hear it again. Or not hear it again. Can you hear silence?" Neera turned to Glint, asking him the question.

Glint rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "Hmm. No, I don't think so, Neera. I don't think you can hear anything that is silent," he replied.

Neera clapped her hands together. "Excellent!" She grinned, and performed a victory fist pump with both arms.

"So does this mean thou art free of Adoy?" Dynaheir asked Neera.

Neera shook her head. "Adoy's still there. I can feel him, but I can live with tht. I think I could even... I totally could. But should I?"

Ralis climbed out of his bedroll, standing on his legs. "Should you explain to us what in the hells you're talking about? Yes, you should definitely do that," he said in a sarcastic yet serious manner.

"Sheesh, witchy britches. Calm down!" Neera exclaimed to Ralis. "The potion helped me focus. At least, I think that's what it did. I can control our link, anyway. That's the important bit."

"What do you mean?" Ralis asked.

Neera frowned, tilting her head slightly to the left. "I can kind of- make him louder or quieter, if that make sense," she said, clearly unsure if she described her control over Adoy's voice correctly. "I THINK I could sever the connection completely if I wanted. Just... cut him off. I'm just not so sure I should."

"What's the alternative?" Jaheira asked.

"Uh, I'm not really sure yet," Neera said slowly, then after a few seconds of thinking, she came to a decision. "All right, I'm gonna talk to him."

"Oh. Well, that should be fun. And by fun, I mean the exact opposite of fun," Ralis said.

"Hey, at least you don't have to listen to the guy. Give me a sec, this won't take long..." Neera said, then she fell into silence, directing her mind to increase the volume of Adoy's voice.

Ralis and the others could not hear Adoy's voice, but Neera could. At first it sounded distant, then it gradually grew louder, as if Adoy were standing next to her.

"Adoy? I need you to tell me where you are," Neera said, then she fell silent.

During that silence, Ralis, Jaheira, Glint and the others saw Neera's facial expression twist into an annoyed frown.

"... I don't CARE if it's embarrassing, just TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE."

After a few more seconds of silence, everyone saw Neera's eyes widen in surprise, then she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding... How in the hells did you manage that? ... Yes I know you're not in one of the Hells. It was- Just listen a sec- Stop flapping your insubstantial ghost lips, PLEASE."

Another few seconds of silence, and everyone could clearly tell from Neera's annoyed facial expressions and body language that Adoy is not shutting up.

"Oh, that does it- this talk is over. I can do that now. BYE." Neera then focused her mind to decrease the volume of Adoy's voice, and Neera could now barely hear his voice as if he were 40 yards away from her.

Then she turned her attention to her companions with an annoyed scowl on her face.

"Fugue Plane. Ugh. Okay. It _sounds_ like he's trapped in the Fugue Plane," Neera informed everyone in a mildly upset tone.

"What the hells?" Jaheira asked in surprise.

"Fugue Plane?" Dynaheir repeated in disbelief, raising her left eyebrow.

The Fugue Plane is a world in the Astral Sea of the World Axis cosmology. It is a plane of existence where the souls of mortals go when they die.

"Isn't that the place where souls of people who died go? How did he get there? Do you think his wild magic might have sent him there even though he isn't dead?" Ralis asked Neera.

Neera shrugged because she doubted it. However, though part of her knew that she should keep an open mind, the sullen look in her eyes told Ralis that she doubts that is true.

"My magic's done some pretty crazy things in the past... I guess it's not totally out of the question. He says there's some kind of mountain nearby that can help him out. I think he said mountain. He was, uh, agitated. Anyway, if I can find this Mountain of Nepenthe, I can bring him back to the Material Plane," she said.

"Mountain of Nepenthe. Never heard of it," Ralis said.

"Yeah. Me neither. Adoy'll tell me when we're near. It's roughly north of here, so it's on our way... I think. Guess we'll find out," Neera said.

After that, everyone picked up their bedrolls, Dorn picked up the bwoosh barrel, Corwin and Khalid destroyed the campfire, and everyone continued moving north.

* * *

Although they weren't exactly sure if they were going the right direction despite what Adoy told Neera, they continued heading north through the forest. Minutes passed, and every minute that passed, Neera began to doubt more and more that Adoy said that they should head north. For all she knows, she might have misheard him, or he might not have a sense of direction. She did not want to mislead her companions in any way.

 _Agh, come on Neera, this is no time to doubt yourself. Your team trusts your directions, so chin up and roll full steam ahead!_ Neera encouraged herself, but she needed some encouragement from another person so she decided to ask Corwin for it.

"Hey, Corwin. Corrrrwin. Corrie. Can I call you Corrie?" Neera called in a childish manner.

"No. What is it, Neera?" Corwin replied.

"Nothing too important. I was just wondering how you think we're doing. As a team, I mean. The group of us, working together. Yep. Doing pretty good, huh?" Neera said.

Corwin nodded in agreement. "You're doing a good job. Your skills are proving invaluable."

Neera gasped, she never expected to get a compliment like that from the Flaming Fist captain. "Really?! You mean it? That is... I... I wasn't worried about ME, exactly. It was the team, you know."

"It's a good team, Neera. We're fortunate you're part of it," Corwin gave Neera a comforting pat on the back.

Neera smiled, feeling in high spirits now that she knows that Corwin is glad to have a wild mage in the group. But Dynaheir, however, couldn't help wondering if Corwin knows how unpredictably dangerous a wild mage can be.

"Thou speakest of fortune, Captain Corwin? I take it that thou hast never been in the company of a wild mage, am I wrong?" Dynaheir asked inquisitively.

Corwin shrugged. "I know nothing about wild mages. To be honest, I don't know anything about mages at all. They're all the same to me- masters of the arcane arts."

The group reached an open space that is 30 yards across on both ends in the forest where there are two boulders, heading northeast towards the boulders when Dynaheir begant to reply to Corwin's remark.

"Then allow me to educate thee about the unpredictable dangers of wild mages. First of all, normal spellcasters such as myself, an invoker of The Three, have complete control over most of the spells we cast. Wild mages, on the other hand, have little or no control over their magic," Dynaheir explained.

"Uh, you forgot to mention how my spells are more powerful, for example, I can shoot four magic missiles at once, and Dynaheir can only fire two at once," Neera chimed in, speaking to Corwin as they drew closer to the boulders.

"Thou'rt correct, Neera, but thy spells are unpredictable and dangerous. When thou try to cast the Hold Person spell on someone, thy wild surge might cause the spell to turn the hapless soul's blood into hot magma." Then dynaheir turned her attention to Corwin. "Tell thyself this, Captain Corwin, is a mage with whimsical spells a valuable asset to the team, hmm?"

Corwin furrowed her eyebrows, thinking over Dynaheir's question carefully before replying.

"When you put it that way, she might be a possible danger to the team..." Corwin began.

Neera pouted in frustration because of Corwin seemingly siding with Dynaheir, and Corwin heard Neera pout.

"Rein it in. If you can't control yourself, you're a danger to us all," Corwin told Neera.

"I KNOW what I'm doing. I even mean to do it, usually. Most of the time. At least half of it, I'd say," Neera said defensively.

Dynaheir nodded in approval. "'Tis exactly the answer I was searching for," she said. "We need to make sure Neera is not a danger to thyself and our group. I'd hate to see her wild magic turn any of us into a small insect."

Glint felt his skin crawl when he heard Dynaheir say that. "Now that's a scary thought. Yes indeed, that is really scary to think about," Glint said.

"Then don't think about it," M'khiin told the gnome.

Glint then had a better idea how to not think of it. Change the subject. After passing by the boulder, heading towards the cluster of trees ahead, Glint spoke to Dynaheir to take his mind off of blood changing to magma.

"You've an interesting way of talking. I mean your language, not your means. My second cousin twice removed could make his posterior talk. Better company than he was," Glint said.

Dynaheir looked down at the gnome walking next to her to her left, while Minsc walked alongside her on her right, frowning at his remark in confusion.

"I do not understand what thou art trying to say," she said.

"See? It's that, that right there. "Thees" and "thous" and "thines". Isn't it easier to use "you's" and "you's" again and "yours"?"

Dynaheir smirked after Glint spoke, keeping her eyes on what is ahead instead of looking down at him as they walked into the next parts of the forest.

"When one's power comes from incantation, it is a wise Wychlaran who keeps her tongue limber."

"Oh oh oh! So you do it to retain clarity! Make sure your mouth can form the words and keep your mind sharp! That's what you're saying. Thou'rt saying?"

"Perhaps that is the truth," Dynaheir replied while tilting her head towards Minsc for a second. "Perhaps I just prefer a more formal affect. Who is to say?"

"You're not going to tell me one way or another, are you? Oh, I like thee!" Glint said.

Dynaheir chose not to answer the gnome and let the conversation end there. Truth be told, she gets her habit of using informal pronouns from her mother, who was also a Wychlaran of Rashemen. She once thought "thees" and "thous" sounded odd too, but as she grew older and became a " _hathran_ " or "learned sister" of the Witches of Rashemen, Dynaheir learned that informal pronouns sound more formal than their name implies- it made her mother sound elegant and wise, and she wanted to emulate that, to be a woman whose wisdom is unquestioned and unmatched, and it made her grow arrogant as she grew older, believing her moral code is superior over others. Usually those who disobey the wisdom of a Wychlaran is punished severely. That means Dynaheir would normally punish Ralis for allowing two drow and a goblin into his group as if she were his mother, but she has slowly learned that even the wisest man and woman can be blinded by prejudice, because many months ago, back when Ralis defended Viconia from being attacked by Kivan, she saw raw, yet confident strength and wisdom in him, especially when he brought up Drizzt to prove his point that some drow deserve a chance to mingle with humans and surface elves without hostility.

As the group neared closer to the first few trees at the northeastern edge of the small clearing, they saw a cloaked figure emerge from behind one of the trees, and as soon as they spotted the figure, they immediately drew their weapons.

"Stop right there! don't come any closer!" Ralis called to the stranger, holding his swords tightly.

"Stand down, everyone. I have not come to harm you- I am an ally," the cloaked figure said as he stretched his right hand out towards them as if signaling them to stop approaching him.

"As a matter of fact... I have come to join you," the figure added as he pulled his hood down, revealing his face.

Ralis couldn't believe who it is. It is none other than Jovan Goldmarsh, the elf who told him about his adventures in Icewind Dale many decades ago. Ralis slowly sheathed his swords into their scabbards as his mouth slowly dropped open in surprise.

"Jovan? Is that really you?" Ralis asked in disbelief.

Jovan nodded. "Yes, Ralis, it is I. I sincerely apologize for startling all of you."

"Who is this guy?" Neera asked Ralis.

"And how d-does he know your name?" Khalid asked, still holding his sword and shield.

Ralis looked around him and noticed that everyone in his group is on the defensive, still holding their weapons at the ready, unsure of whether to treat Jovan as a hostile or not.

"Oh gods, come on guys, don't you see we know each other? Lower your weapons," Ralis commanded.

Everyone did what he told them to do, albeit reluctantly, especially Dorn, because of his wariness of betrayal. Ralis took a few steps towards Jovan while his group followed behind him about seven feet away.

"What are you doing out here, Jovan? You need to be careful, startling us like that, we could have mistaken you as an assassin under the employ of Caelar Argent," Ralis scolded him.

Jovan nodded submissively. "I know, and again, I apologize. The reason why I followed you out here is because I wish to join you on your recon mission to Dragonspear Castle.

Jaheira laughed skeptically. "And you think that we would simply welcome you, a stranger, with open arms? What the hell do you take us for, a group of bumbling idiots?"

Jovan shook his head, taking a few steps closer to the group. "Many miles away from that, I assure you. I have... concerns about Caelar Argent and her crusade."

"Everyone is concerned about her crusade. What makes you so unique?" Corwin questioned the elf.

Jovan placed his hands on his waist after she said that. "I heard a small rumor from a Flaming Fist soldier who spoke to one of the soldiers back at Bridgefort before that incident on Boareskyr Bridge. He told the Flaming Fist soldier that there was a disagreement between a mage woman and the Barghest. The woman wanted you, Ralis, for some reason, while the Barghest wanted to simply parlay with you."

Ralis nodded. It's true that the Barghest wanted to parlay with him, but he paid little attention to the woman who disagreed with the Barghest's course of action. Now that Jovan brought it up, Ralis clearly remembered the mage woman. She was the only crusader during the siege of Bridgefort who knew his name and face. He never put much thought into why she was almost willing to disobey the Barghest's orders, but now, thinking back to it hints that the crusade might have an ulterior motive.

"It's true, it's all true..." Ralis said, rubbing his chin in thought.

Neera looked completely clueless. "Wait, what does this mean?" She asked Dynaheir.

"It means that Caelar Argent might have another goal in mind. It is now apparent that she has some kind of plan for Ralis," Dynaheir replied.

"What does the possibility of Caelar having a secret goal have to do with you, Jovan?" Ralis asked.

Jovan sighed. "You do realize that Dragonspear Castle and the demons and devils of the Nine Hells have a close knit history together, right?"

"Yeah? So?" Ralis subtly urged him to get to the point.

"For the past six decades, after my adventures in Icewind Dale 88 years ago, I've had this fear... A fear that has been plaguing me almost every night in the form of nightmares," Jovan said, his voice wavering and his eyes unable to focus on Ralis and his group.

Ralis and his group felt the ominous aura of unease around Jovan now, as if a malevolent cloud is hanging over him, spreading his fear to others.

"What is it? W-w-what is it that you are afraid of?" Khalid asked.

Jovan slowly shook his head, wiping sweat off his forehead. "More like who. I just have a feeling that a crusade army laying siege to a ruined castle with a portal connected to the Nine Hells means something _very_ personal to me. What if their goal is to open the portal that leads to the Nine Hells? If they do that, then maybe..." Jovan paused there and tried to shake the bleak thoughts out of his mind. "Anyway, we should get going, we are wasting daylight. I just want to tag along and make sure my worst fear isn't true," he said, the tone of his voice mildly upbeat again.

Ralis couldn't help wondering what is it that Jovan wants to check out at Dragonspear Castle. There is a personal reason why he wants to stop Caelar argent's crusaders, and he is not forthcoming with the answer, so it is best to let him come with.

"All right, Jovan, you can come with us. But consider yourself forewarned, my group doesn't know you as well as I do. Don't do anything to make them think you mean us harm," Ralis advised him.

"I'll try not to overstep my bounds," Jovan promised, then approached the group, standing close to Ralis as they headed north, leaving the small clearing and entering the forest once more.

* * *

As they walked through the forest for the next hour, Jovan made sure to get himself acquainted with everyone, including Dorn. As expected, Dorn did not trust Jovan, and neither did Jaheira and Viconia, but they made no attempt to attack him at least. The only people who trusted him were Ralis, Corwin, Minsc, Dynaheir, Neera, Voghiln and Khalid. Baeloth was intrigued to meet an adventuring elf who visited Icewind Dale, and as usual, asked jovan if he would be interested in fighting for profit or fame, and obviously Jovan turned him down, much to Baeloth's disappointment. An hour later since meeting Jovan, they still have not found Dead Man's Pass, at least not yet. They eventually found a pond with clean water to stop and take a quick drink at least. however as time slowly passed, Ralis and Corwin began to think that they may have passed by the location.

"Jovan, do you know your way around these forests? We need to make sure we did not miss our destination," Corwin said.

"Sadly I don't. I've never traveled this far south before..." Jovan replied.

While Ralis, Jovan and Corwin were talking about how far north they should go according to Neera's direction based on what Adoy told her, Glint struck up a conversation with Jaheira.

"So, Jaheira, you and Khalid. You two have been together for a while, now, have you?" He asked, scratching his sideburns while walking beside Jaheira, with Khalid to her right.

Jaheira nodded shamelessly. "More than ten years. Married for eight of them."

"It feels longer, sometimes. T-t-the joy I feel is s-s-seemingly without end," Khalid said with a proud smirk.

Glint's eyes widened more in amusement than astonishment. "Ten years, huh? That is impressive. And you're happy together? With each other?"

"I cannot picture my life with my love Jahiera," Khalid said without stuttering over a single word.

"Oh, that's just lack of imagination. We can work on that."

Jaheira felt a bit disturbed at what Glint just said. "Why do you ask these things?"

"Hmm? Oh, no reason. Just trying to, you know, get to know the members of my party. Is there anything you'd like to know about me?" Glint replied.

Jaheira had a feeling that the gnome is interested in her, even though she is married. Why else would he talk about opening Khalid's imagination about living his life without her by his side?

"If I think of something, I'll let you know," Jaheira promised the gnome. _Which is never,_ Jaheira remarked in her thoughts, as she had no intention of speaking further to Glint unless absolutely necessary.

While Glint, Khalid and Jaheira were speaking, Voghiln was having a conversation with Neera as well, something that he has wanted to do for quite a while, as he has never met a half-elf woman with pink hair before. It is an unusual sight, plus, the memory of seeing her chugging her custom potion as if it were a large flagon of ale deeply fascinated him.

"... so the wife looked like a goat?" Neera asked, trying to make sense of Voghiln's story because his accent is so unusual and strange.

" _Ja!_ And the drunkard thought the sheepherder was married to a goat!" Voghiln exclaimed and laughed, and Neera laughed with him.

" _Ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha!_ Oh! He thought she was a goat! That's a good one! It's good to laugh! Feels like it's been a while, you know?"

Voghlin nodded in reply to Neera. " _Ja, ja._ And, uh, there are other things I have not done of late," he said, lowering his eyes down towards Neera's pants, trying to imagine how she looks without her clothes on. "... Things better done with a lady... Perhaps you and I could do such things together, eh...?" he added slowly, trying to restrain himself from groping Neera's buttocks, and on top of that, placing his right hand in his pants pocket and hold his hardening manhood down to prevent it from creating a visible bulge from within his pants, and fortunately it is easy to control his erection since they are still walking. But if they were standing idle, holding down his manhood would be a less easy.

Neera slowly turned to face Voghiln with a confused, mildly disturbed look. "You and I? You want...?" Her voice trailed off there, then she started laughing as if he told a joke.

" _Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!_ Oh, Voghiln, that is great! You had me going there for a second, you know that? You _really_ had me going!" Neera said cheerfully.

Voghiln's eyes widened momentarily in surprise. He was sure that Neera knew what he was referring to. Was she giving him a hint that she is not interested? He wasn't entirely sure, but he had a gut feeling that she is not interested, and that hurt his confused feelings.

"You think I was making a joke? Well... maybe I was... _Ja, ja..._ " Voghiln said slowly and uneasily, trying not to sound too crestfallen. "(It was a joke)," he whispered to himself, trying to lift his depressed spirits up. "Good one, eh?" He forced a grin at Neera.

"The best, Voghiln, the best!" Neera grinned back.

At that moment, after their banter, Jovan was questioning their source on which direction they are going. By the time they found themselves walking into a straightforward trail where the ground is mostly gravel than grass or dirt, and there are walls boulders of various shapes and sizes surrounding the trail, a perfect place for an ambush, but Jovan never noticed that possibility, he couldn't help wondering if this Adoy that Ralis said Neera spoke to could be trusted. He never met anyone who was a wild mage before, but from what he has learned about them, relying on them is like gambling- you'll never know what you might get.

"... Are you sure? The wild mage said we should go north?" Jovan asked Ralis, walking beside him to his right, Corwin to his left.

Ralis nodded, sensing the doubt in Jovan's voice. "I know you think I made the wrong call listening to Neera, but without her information, we're practically flying blind here."

Jovan raised an eyebrow in concern. "I never questioned your confidence in your companion's sense of judgment," he said in a calm, reasonable tone.

"It sounded as if you had, though," Ralis countered, sounding a little defensive.

Jovan sighed in exasperation. "Look, I-"

"Quiet!" Corwin abruptly hissed, and Jovan quickly fell silent, looking over at her direction with Ralis.

With everyone's silence secured, Corwin examined their surroundings. She noticed that there are more than a dozen boulders scattered around this open space, a crusader assassin or a cunning predator could be hiding behind one of them, or maybe more. Even more disturbing, the air in this area of the forest is stale and heavy, as if all the energy and power had been drained in this area.

"What is it?" Ralis whispered to her.

"Be on your guard, Ralis. This place was practically made for an ambush," Corwin whispered back.

"And the air is fairly thin here too, as if nature has abandoned this place," Jaheira commented.

While the group was trying to decide whether to move forward into the blatantly obvious ambush grounds, about 30 yards ahead of them, perched on the tallest boulder on the left side of the trail out of their view, ten mysterious figures were watching them, camouflaged by the canopy of the tall trees blocking some of the sunlight.

"It's him," one of the assassins whispered and pointed at Ralis as he and his group cautiously walked down the trail.

It took them almost two minutes to get close to where the assassins are waiting.

"Proceed as instructed," the assassin leader whispered back, then he gave the hand signal to tell his team that now is the time to strike.

Then suddenly, Ralis, Corwin and their group witnessed ten shadowy cloaked figures drop down from the air and land on the ground ten feet away from them, and half of them brandished short swords, two of them have daggers, and the leader is armed with two long swords.

Without hesitation, Ralis and his party drew their weapons. Neera and Dynaheir readied themselves to cast a volley of magic missiles, but when they thrust their arms forward, a thick wisp of smoke only emerged from the palms of their hands and they heard a fizzing noise.

"What the heck?! My magic failed!" Neera exclaimed.

"By the Three! A dead-magic zone!" Dynaheir exclaimed.

"What?!" Corwin exclaimed, looking back at Dynaheir. Everyone looked at her in surprise, except Dorn.

Big mistake. The assassins sprung into action, but Dorn engaging them gave Ralis and his party the time they needed to refocus on the battle at hand. If it weren't for Dorn, the assassins would have killed one of them in the blink of an eye, possibly. Ralis engaged the mercenary assassin leader, clashing swords, Voghiln, M'khiin, Minsc, Khalid, Jaheira, Glint, Jovan and Viconia engaged in melee combat. Neera, Baeloth and Dynaheir stayed back since melee combat is not their major expertise, and Corwin stayed out of melee combat and looked around to make sure the assassins don't have any archers of their own posted nearby.

A dead-magic zone is an area where magic ceases to function, a lasting effect that has appeared in certain locations on Faerun ever since the Time of Troubles ended. The fight against the assassin is almost evenly matched, however, Dorn, with his blackguard powers, tipped the balance in Ralis' favor, as he managed to kill two assassins with a single strike from his blade, and none of the wounds he inflicted on them were seriously fatal- its because he used his blackguard power to poison his blade, which explains why the assassins he attacked are writhing on the ground in pain. As the fight continued for the next two minutes, Corwin noticed that the assassins have no archers after all, they are just attacking head-on. Because of that, she began to believe that these assassins might not be trying to kill them, or maybe they are not so experienced. Why would Caelar send partially experienced assassins after them? Who would?

"Damn it! I hate watching them fight when I can't even help!" Neera cursed.

"There is nothing we can do. We are in a dead-magic zone, we cannot cast spells, and if we try to help them in combat, we will only risk getting ourselves hurt," Dynaheir reasoned with Neera, placing her right hand on her shoulder.

At that moment, Corwin noticed a new assassin appear out of thin air behind Dorn while he is occupied fighting an assassin armed with two short swords in each hand. The assassin drove a dagger that has zigzagging curved edges on its blade up Dorn's left armpit, one of the few weak spots in his armor when the opportunity presented itself, and Dorn yelled in pain, trying his hardest not to sag down to his knees, realizing that he had been stabbed by a dagger of paralysis.

"Damn!" Corwin cursed and took aim at the assassin who stabbed dorn in the back, and at that moment, Voghiln rushed towards Dorn to assist him before the assassin he was fighting can cut his head in half.

Corwin fired her arrow, aiming at the back stabbing assassin's right leg, out of fear that the assassin might dodge aside and her arrow might strike Dorn in the back by mistake. The moment when Voghiln used Kondar to parry the assassin's blade inches from Dorn's forehead, Corwin's arrow pierced through the back stabbing assassin's right leg, inches above his foot. The moment Dorn heard the assassin behind him cry out in pain after getting shot by Corwin, he pulled a dagger out of his belt and spun around, slicing the assassin's neck with it at the same moment Voghiln stabbed the assassin in front of Dorn in the chest.

The assassin leader noticed his allies are being felled almost at a fast rate. Though Dorn had been subdued by a surprise attack from one of his men, Dorn still managed to take him down despite being partially paralyzed. The assassin leader kicked Ralis in the chest when he could, then somersaulted twice to create more distance between him and his opponent.

"As expected, you have proved your might, Ralis. I have seen enough," the assassin leader told Ralis before he could charge at him.

Then he pulled a smoke bomb out of his utility belt and threw it down towards the ground.

*Poompf!* A thick cloud of smoke engulfed the entire dead-magic zone, and when the smoke cleared, Ralis and his group discovered that the assassins that have not been killed retreated, the smokescreen covered their escape.

"What... the hell?" Ralis panted, then sheathed his swords into their scabbards then looked to Jovan for answers.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said.

"Whoever those assassins were, they fought us not to kill us, but to assess our strength," Jaheira said.

"For what?" Viconia asked.

Jaheira walked over to Dorn, checking him over as he struggled to stand on his feet despite his tense muscles refusing to relax.

"That's a question we can't answer by sitting here. Let's get out of here and ponder about it in a spot that is _not_ a dead-magic zone," Neera said.

"She's right. We should keep moving north. Adoy's direction is our only lead, so we should follow it," Ralis said, and the group moved on, with Dorn struggling to walk, but after three minutes, the paralysis wore off and his muscles finally relaxed.


	15. Chapter 15 Secrets Not Known part 3

**_"We ought not treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away."_**

 ** _-Plutarch_**

* * *

"I don't get it," Corwin said as they continued following the dirt trail through the forest. "Those assassins could have killed us, they had the element of surprise, but their method of ambushing us seemed... poorly planned," Corwin said.

"What do you mean?" Ralis asked.

"There were no archers anywhere, for starters. They weren't really trying to kill us. I think they were testing us," Corwin said, choosing her words carefully.

"Who is testing us?" Jovan wondered.

Corwin shrugged. "That is a mystery that will probably never be solved."

After those words were spoken, the entire group lapsed into silence, walking north, following the winding trail. Approximately 120 yards ahead later, the trail grew wider and wider, and almost immediately Ralis and his party heard a nearby voice say in perfect Common:

"Make a wrong move and you are dead."

Everyone froze, tunring their heads left and right, trying to find the source of the voice in the area. When Ralis looked northeast, he saw that there is a small hill with a not so steep slope about 43 yards away from where they stood, flanked by two trees with red leaves (the rest of the trees in the area have green leaves). On top of the hill thirteen feet above flat ground, Ralis saw a small group of yellow skinned, flat-faced goblins, five of them, elevated high enough to take potshots at any trespasser foolish enough to enter this wide open trail. All five of the goblins on the hill are males, and only two of them are mounted on growling worgs, the same way a knight would be on a horse, and half of them have shortbows, training their arrows on their chosen target. With caution, Ralis took five slow steps ahead away form his group so that the goblin leader will know which one of the intruders he should be speaking to.

"That's far enough, human," the hobgoblin standing between the two goblins on the worgs said, aiming his shortbow at Ralis's forehead.

Ralis wasn't sure if these goblins are allied with the crusade. As far as he could tell from this distance, their leather armor does not have the crusader insignia on them, but if they are with the crusade, it means they are on the right track.

"I am Ralis Rutela, hero of Baldur's Gate. I have business with the crusade," Ralis announced to the goblins.

One of the goblins riding a worg noticed M'khiin in Ralis's party and lowered his shortbow in surprise.

" _Look at that, Battuks! They got one of our sisters with them!_ " The goblin named Sickl T'matta exclaimed to Battuks in the goblin language instead of Common, leaving Ralis trying to figure out what he is talking about.

Battuks Softbelcher, the only hobgoblin in the goblinkin group noticed M'khiin among Ralis' party, and his eyebrows arched upwards in amusement. No human has ever traveled in the company of a goblin before. Unless she is a prisoner of theirs. If she is a prisoner, she must be rescued, and Battuks has every intention of making sure of that.

" _So they do_ ," a different goblin, named Raggemos Ghostrant, the one on the worg to Battuk's left said to the goblin who spotted M'khiin first in their native language, then turned his attention to Ralis. "This won't stand. Release the female, human, or pay the price," he warned him.

Ralis frowned in confusion, not knowing what Battuks is referring to at first.

"Female? Wha...?" Ralis turned around and spotted M'khiin standing between Minsc and Neera. "Oh, I get it now." Once he finally understood, he turned to face the goblins on the hill. "M'khiin is no prisoner of mine- she is free to do as she wishes. I doubt she'll go willingly with you," he called to them.

"She don't need to be willing," Sickl sneered, gripping the handle of his short sword sheathed to the side of his belt as if restraining himself from pulling the sword out.

"Goblins should be with goblins," Raggemos argued.

"He's not wrong," Corwin said to Ralis.

" _(I know that, don't lecture me like a child,)_ " Ralis whispered to Corwin almost curtly, upset that she doesn't see the point in this argument; this is not about who belongs with who, this is about having a choice in the matter, without being forced into doing something.

M'khiin stepped away from Neera and Minsc, passed by Corwin and Ralis and moved a few feet in front of them. At first the goblins on the hills grinned, happy with their belief that M'khiin has decided to join them, but what she said next destroyed the smiles on their faces.

"I'm not going with you wormbellies. Get away from here."

Battuks was the only goblinkin who didn't turn his smile into a disappointed frown, instead, he laughed in amusement. "Ho, she got a knife where her tongue should be. Mind your mouth, little sister. We'll getcha out of this," Battuks said, this time speaking Common instead of the goblin tongue.

Ralis and Corwin heard M'khiin grunt in disapproval, and they saw her begin to do her shaman dance, calling spirits to assist her with these annoyign goblins. The goblins on the hill noticed M'khiin's dancing, but had no idea what she is doing, or the purpose of her dancing, but Ralis and his party know full well what she intends on doing.

Ralis chuckled, grinning in a rather sinister way at the goblins on the hill. "How terribly noble of you, trying to save a female of your race who is clearly not in distress. A question, though: If you're going to "rescue" M'khiin... who will save you?"

"Huh?" The goblins on the hill frowned in confusion, wondering what the human is talking about as they looked at each other in confusion as if one of them held the answer.

They eventually got their answer when they saw five ghosts appear in front of them- the souls of long dead goblin warriors. The worgs, seeing the ghosts, were so stricken with terror, they howled fearfully and stood up on their hind legs, causing Raggemos and Sab'n Drooldribbler to Battuks' right to fall off and land on their backs, and the worgs ran off, but the ghosts didn't chase them, they instead focused focused on Battuks and the other four goblins. Battuks and Sickl shrieked in fear, curling their bodies in a fetal position as the goblin ghosts attacked them with spikeless, nonmagical clubs. Raggemos, Sickl and the third goblin Sab'n were the only ones who fought back instead of cowering on the ground. Ralis and his party watched in amusement as the goblins were attacked by ghostly goblins, and one ghost managed to kill the fifth goblin. The ghosts attacked the remaining four goblins for about ten seconds then returned to the Fugue Plane, because they agreed to assist M'khiin for no more than ten seconds, which is all that M'khiin needed to scare those goblins so badly they would possibly soil their pantaloons.

"Mercy! Mercy!" Battuks wailed while still curled in a fetal position, trying to cover his head with his bruised arms, unaware that the ghosts have disappeared.

Appalled at Battuk's wailing, Raggemos walked over to him and kicked his head.

" _Show some steel, Battuks! You beg for mercy from a mewling child!_ " Raggemos growled at the terrified goblin, speaking the goblin language to him.

"Does "mewling" mean powerful?" Sickl asked Raggemos as he sheathed his short sword.

Raggemos glared at him, and Battuks slowly stood up on his feet.

"'Coz she seems pretty mewling to me," Sickl added without missing a beat, his eyes wide in astonishment.

"It doesn't mean powerful," Ralis chimed in. He paused until the goblins turned their eyes on him. "It means to cry feebly or whimper. It's often been used in reference to babies."

Raggemos gasped in outrage and clenched his teeth. "The wretched snakesister calls us babies! They must die."

Before he could draw his spiked club for battle, he felt someone tap his left shoulder with his finger and he turned around to see Sickl next to him.

"Uh, weren't you th' one what call her a mewling child...?" He asked him.

Raggemos flew into a rage.

"Kill them! Crush their bones and bathe in their blood!" He screamed.

The goblins barely had time to make a move. Corwin had already fired an arrow by the time Raggemos was done speaking, and Battuks saw it coming, but he wasn't agile enough to dodge it. Corwin's arrow struck Battuks in the chest, picking him up off his feet, throwing him three feet back from where he stood and he landed on his back. By the time Battuks hit the ground and started writhing and screaming in pain before he passed away, Raggemos and the other goblins readied their shortbows, grabbing their arrows and taking aim at the intruders. Dynaheir and Neera fired magic missiles, Ralis fired his own arrow. Neera's four magic missile volley struck Raggemos in the chest, causing him to misfire, shooting his arrow up at the sky. Sab'n managed to fire his arrow, aiming at Corwin, but Corwin ducked aside, the arrow missing her head by ten inches, but he never saw Ralis' arrow flying at him. The arrow struck him in the head, ending his life painlessly before he realized it. Sab'n was the target of Dynaheir's magic missiles, and he died as soon as the second magic missile struck his chest, picking him up off his feet like how Corwin's arrow did to Battuks.

With all four goblinkin dead, M'khiin exhaled a sigh of relief. She approached Ralis and got his attention.

"I... thank you, Ralis. Not many would shed blood over a goblin," she said to him.

Ralis smiled at her. "We are not defined by race, M'khiin- or we shouldn't be, at least. It's what one does that truly matters."

M'khiin slowly nodded, her eyes showing some mild admiration as she looked up at Ralis.

"You stood up for me. I won't forget it," she promised.

Ralis nodded at her and moved forward, and his party followed him north, following the trail as it grew more and more narrow every 50 yards. As M'khiin walked with her companions she couldn't help wondering how is it that the young human Ralis gained such an admirable outlook on life. Who raised him? And how can a human like Ralis endure in a world where not everyone is willing to tolerate a race that is violent by nature? Ever since she was a young goblin, M'khiin had been taught that survival and self-preservation are the most important lessons to learn. To goblins, treating someone better than you treat yourself makes no sense, and standing up for someone who could potentially stab you in the back is a naive, illogical choice to make. Back then, M'khiin struggled to understand why humans and other races hate goblins so much that they would kill them without a second thought, and as she grew older and wiser, she came to the understanding that the reason why goblins are feared and hated as much as the drow are is because of their culture, their perspective of life and way of living. It is ugly and makes them appear evil.

So instead of developing an immense hatred of other races, she developed a neutral outlook of them, not hating her own kind, but acknowledging their shortcomings and holding no grudge on other races, which is why when she agreed with Safana months ago that goblins are ugly, not just their appearance, but the way they live and their behavior. Though much of her family had been killed by the blades or arrows of humans, she doesn't blame them. But she couldn't help wondering, are her kind so hateful of humans, elves and other races because they are taller? That can't be the reason since some halflings are the same height as goblins or a few inches smaller, and they get along with tall folk just fine. M'khiin found herself walking alongside Minsc, and when she looked up at him, she couldn't believe how tall he is compared to her height. The man is taller than everyone in this party, he appears big as a tower. Even though he has low intellect, no one orders him around. M'khiin slightly envied him for that. Ever since she was a young goblin, she had practically been bullied all her life, by her siblings and her parents, they never respected her thoughts or opinions. If she were taller, fellow goblins might respect her decisions, rather than force her to do something against her will.

"Must be nice, being big," M'khiin said to Minsc and she saw him look down at her. "Your mind is bent, but no one pushes you around."

Minsc frowned sympathetically at the goblin. "Who pushes you around, little one? Minsc will show them the pointy end of his sword! Or maybe one of the sharp sides. Decisions, decisions."

"Everyone pushes me around," M'khiin said disdainfully, lowering her head as her mind drifted back to those horrible memories of growing up in her tribe. " _My family, my tribe, other tribes, humans, the world..._ " She tried not to cry, but she had difficulty not to, a few tears fell from her closed eyelids. Seeing Ralis stand up for her against those pushy goblins felt like inhaling a breath of fresh air. And the sad thing is, she never inhaled fresh air before in her entire lifetime.

Though they were walking, Ralis, Corwin, Glint, Dynaheir, Neera, Jovan and Khalid overheard M'khiin's conversation with Minsc and felt sympathy for her after hearing her sob story. Everyone stopped walking, expecting Minsc to do something, and they saw Minsc get down on his knees and give M'khiin a gentle pat on her back.

"But you are free now, yes? There is no mean tribe, no angry humans around telling you what to do," Minsc said.

"For now," M'khiin said sadly, yet cynically, wiping a tear from her left eye.

"Then do as Boo does and enjoy the moment! In it, you are as big as you need to be!" Minsc exclaimed enthusiastically, standing back up on his legs and spreading his arms wide for emphasis.

M'khiin wiped another tear from her eye and looked up at Minsc. When the group continued to move forward through the forest, M'khiin couldn't help but acknowledge that Ralis and Minsc are the only best things that happened in her life.

"I never thought I'd feel sympathy for a goblin, but after hearing that... *sigh*... I can only imagine how terrible it is when no one respects you as a person, not even your own family..." Corwin said then her voice trailed off there.

Ralis couldn't help smirking. It pleased him to hear that Corwin is taking another step to realize that creatures that humans perceive as bloodthirsty monsters, like goblins, are not really mindless killers by nature, they have personalities and emotions just like humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and other "civilized" races. That kind of ignorance is what Gorion encouraged him not to fall victim to. He used to say:

"Prejudice is a kind of evil anyone can commit, even if they do not realize it. It is easy to see an creature that is equally or nearly intelligent as a human that is physically different from you as a monster, but do not give in to fear, my child, for fear inhibits an open mind. Once you look past your fears and prejudices towards the one you perceive as a monster, you will learn that the creature is no more a monster than you are."

Ralis sighed heavily. He missed Gorion. He missed the times when he told inspiring stories about the many people spread throughout Faerun. Even Imoen loved his stories.

"You show such devotion to your companions. Your witch and your... hamster, is it? It's an appealing trait you have," Viconia said to Minsc.

The tall man looked down at the drow with a skeptical smile. A drow, of all creatures, complimenting him? What is her angle? Minsc had no idea why she complimented him after that pep talk to M'khiin.

"Oh ho! What game do you play, evil elf lady? It will take more than compliments to make Minsc trust you!" Minsc said.

Viconia smirked and shook her head. "You are too suspicious, pale one. I merely made an observation," she said nonchalantly.

"You do more than that. You said loyalty is appealing, but Minsc has heard that drow betray each other at every turn!"

"Oh, they do. That is why your loyalty appeals," Viconia replied shamelessly.

"Ho, my friend," Glint said to Ralis, breaking him out of his reminiscing thoughts at the moment when Viconia was complimenting Minsc's sense of unwavering loyalty to his companions. "Are you having as much fun as me? Because I've got to say, I'm having a lot of fun. Even almost getting horribly slain is relatively enjoyable. As far as that sort of thing goes, I mean."

Ralis looked to his left, seeing Glint walking alongside him with a cheerful smirk spread across his face. He admired the gnome's cheerful demeanor, even though there is nothing to be cheerful about.

"I wish I felt as you do, Glint. Our conflict with the crusade has already cost the Sword Coast too much. Whoever ultimately wins, we all will have lost," Ralis said, trying not to sound too sullen.

Glint's eyes widened in surprise momentarily after Ralis was done speaking.

"Gods! If I thought as you do, I'd thrown myself from a cliff ages ago. There's misery enough in this world. I'll not add to it, not willingly, and neither should you," he said.

Ralis shrugged. "You're right about that," he said then chuckled. "Imoen would _love_ to talk to you someday," he added. "She would be happy to know someone like you is keeping me sane."

Glint nodded in approval, smiling as they continued walking. "We make a fine pair, don't we, you and me? The hero of Baldur's Gate and his right-hand gnome."

"Yep. If a finer pair of men have walked the Sword Coast, I've not heard of them," Ralis agreed proudly.

"There could be none finer than us. Me, with my wit and charm and looks, and you with... everything you've got," Glint replied.

In response to that, Ralis chuckled while nodding. "A touch, a touch, I do confess it. I am skewered in your rapier wit. Mercy please, I beg you," Ralis said in a mock pleading tone.

"Ha! There's the smile I was looking for. And as always, well worth the effort," glint said proudly.

* * *

About 37 minutes later, everyone continued walking through the forest, and as they moved on, Glint and Neera began to talk about something very random. Something that made no sense to anyone.

Yeah, yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah, I've seen those once or twice. They are aMAZing. The way they fly through the air and then, you know..." Glint rambled to Neera.

"I totally know! Like how they do that thing, the twisty thing?" Neera replied with childlike cheer in her voice.

"I LOVE the twisty thing," Glint replied.

"The one I saw did a DOUBLE twisty thing," Neera grinned.

Glint gasped at her in shock. "NO. A double twisty bit? That's- Cloakshadow's black silk lining, I can't even think what it'd be like with a double twisty thing."

Neera nodded. "I was impressed. But it's real dangerous. I'm surprised the big man didn't have his nose melted, you know?"

"Oh, the nose melt. I saw that once, just with a single twist. Not pleasant. But for a double twisty? Totally worth it, I'd say," Glint said.

"It really, really was. That was a good day," Neera said, placing the upper half of her staff on her right shoulder, her right hand gripping the lower part.

"I'll bet," Glint agreed.

Dorn grunted in annoyance, Viconia sighed in disdain, and Jaheira and Jovan rolled their eyes.

"Does anyone know what the hells these two are talking about?" Corwin asked.

"Gardening, I think," M'khiin blurted out.

At that moment, Jaheira suddenly exclaimed: "Everyone, stand your ground!"

Everyone stopped walking and waited, trying to sense what Jaheira sensed.

"Do you mind telling us why you have us frozen in place where we are easy pickings for one of these predatory surface animals?" Viconia asked.

Jaheira was about to talk back at Viconia, but Corwin cut her off. "She's right. What's going on Jaheira?"

"You do not feel it? There is great evil hidden somewhere among nature in this vicinity," Jaheira said, the tone of her voice hinting that she is unsettled.

"We're not going to be able to confront it standing idle," Ralis said.

Jaheira nodded. "But of course. Lead on, oh fearless leader," Jaheira said sarcastically.

Jovan frowned, catching the sarcasm of her voice, and wondered if she really trusts Ralis' decisions.

A minute later, Ralis and his party found an area in the forest where the soil ends and concrete tiles begins, and in the center of the concrete tile ground is a large, thick oak tree. When ralis glanced over at Jaheira, he could see the worried, mildly fearful look on her face, a hint that there is something wrong with this oak tree, and Jaheira can feel it.

"This oak tree... it has been corrupted with evil," she said.

When Ralis looked at the tree, he noticed that the tree's base does not meet the ground, it continues down into a hole in the earth, meaning there is some underground room where the base of the tree is. And next to the tree, there are two thick clusters of vines jutting up from the ground about the same height as Corwin.

"Someone is spreading demonic energy through nature from this tree," Jaheira said, curling her fists in anger. "This is worse than cutting a tree down for lumber," she added.

Ralis and Corwin slowly stepped closer to the tree with Jaheira.

"I don't know how she knows all of this, but I can't ignore this feeling that something is wrong with this tree either," corwin said to Ralis.

"You wouldn't be much of a ranger if you couldn't sense something off about this tree," Ralis said with a smirk.

As soon as they got five feet close to the tree, they heard muffled shouts nearby.

"Huh? What's that?" Ralis looked around in alarm. He didn't see anyone, only those two large clusters of vines close to the tree.

As he neared closer to one of the vine clusters, he heard someone from within the vines making muffled noises.

"Hello? Is someone in there?" Ralis called, hoping whoever is inside the vine cluster can hear him.

"Who are you talking to?" Corwin asked as she approached Ralis.

"Shh," Ralis signaled her to be quiet.

As he turned his head to the right, so his right ear can pick up the noises, he heard the man inside try to say something.

"Someone's stuck under all these vines," M'khiin observed.

" _... ree us... mmph..._ "

Ralis frowned. "Free us? Is that what you're saying?" Ralis asked whoever is inside.

"That's what I'd be saying," Glint said.

"Let's get them out of there," Corwin said.

" _Help... mmmph... dying! Cut free... or dispel!"_ Somehow the man inside managed to speak a few words clearly.

"Hold still. I'll see if I can help," Ralis said, pulling Albruin out of its scabbard.

He stepped back a few inches, first, to make sure that he doesn't accidentally cut the man inside the vines, and swung his sword. The blade cut through a few layers of the vines, so one swing isn't enough. With Khalid, Voghiln and Minsc's help, Ralis cut through three more layers of the vines in four different spots. Khalid and Voghiln were cutting the other man inside the other cluster of vines free while Minsc helped Ralis. After slicing through several layers of vines, the men who were stuck inside were finally free. Judging by their lcothing ,they are druids, and they both have shoulder length, dirty blond hair. The one who tried to speak to Ralis before he was freed had a small horizontal scar under his left eye, close to the nostril of his nose.

"Aack... pth..." The man spat out a few small tendrils and leaves before speaking. "Thank you. I apologize for our disarray. We have been trapped in those wretched vines for days," he said.

Before speaking to him, Ralis noticed that there is still a piece of a leaf stuck on the corner of his mouth.

"You've, uh, got a bit of leaf on your face still," Ralis told him.

The man brought his right hand up and rubbed his forehead. Ralis shook his head to let him know that the leaf isn't technically on his face.

"The corner of your mouth," Ralis corrected him.

The man touched the left corner of his mouth.

"Other corner," Ralis directed him.

The man finally brushed the piece of leaf stuck to his mouth.

"There you go," Ralis confirmed with a satisfied nod.

"My name is Jamven," the man introduced himself. "This is Chorster. We were part of a druid circle once- one that has become dark and corrupted."

"I expected that much," Ralis heard Jaheira mutter.

"Our circle's leader, Ferrusk, was a great druid once, but he has changed. He became obsessed with mutating nature and setting the abominable results loose in the world. He needs to be stopped. Will you assist us?" Jamven explained.

"Of course. Besides, my friend behind me will have my head on a platter if I say no," Ralis said, pointing back at Jaheira behind him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Ferrusk has a circle in the caverns below. The roots of this great tree grow down into his lair. The tree is the source of the corruption he feeds into the local wildlife," Jamven explained.

Then Chorster stepped forward until he stood next to Jamven to his left. "We've enchanted a seed which must be planted in the tree's roots to purify it of evil. In time, the blight growing within the land and the corruption in the forest's fauna will fade. We can show you the entrance to the caverns and help you get past its guardians. Then you must find the dark circle and plant the seed. Will you help us?" He asked.

"It would be an honor," Ralis nodded politely.

Jamven and Chorster smiled hopefully, then Jamven reached into his bag and gave Ralis one of the enchanted seeds they made. "Here is the enchanted seed. Once it touches the tree's roots, it will sprout and its magic will awaken," he said, handing Ralis the bright green seed.

"Not far northeast from here, you'll find a cave in the cliff face that marks the way to the caverns. If you get into trouble, we'll help you," Chorster said.

Jovan, however, didn't believe Chorster's promise.

"Yeah, about that..." he said slowly, stepping a few feet closer to the two druids until he stood next to Ralis, then he crossed his arms, giving the druids a wary stare. "... you and Jamven are coming with us, actually. Don't worry, it's just that we don't fully trust you," Jovan said.

Before Jamven and Chorster could say anything, Ralis spoke up.

"We are investigating the activities of Caelar Argent's crusader armies. We hard that they are operating in a cave nearby, so to make sure that you two aren't one of them, you'll be accompanying us to the cavern."

Chorster and Jamven blinked in surprise. They weren't expecting this request, but they were smart enough to realize that Jovan and Ralis are only testing them, to make sure they are not part of Caelar's crusaders.

"We accept," Chorster said with a modest smile.

"When we say we'll help you, we will help you in any way possible," Jamven said.

Ralis felt Jaheira give him a congratulations nudge. "That is one of the few smartest ideas you have ever had. you are just full of surprises, Ralis," she said with a pleased smirk.

Ralis wasn't sure if he should say thanks or not, so he decided to say nothing.

* * *

Several minutes later, Ralis, Jaheira, Jamven, Chorster and Jovan were perched atop a large rock formation that resembles a wall about fifteen feet above ground, overlooking the trail that leads straight towards the palisade gates that protect the entrance to the caverns Jamven and Chorster mentioned. The gates are closely guarded by two Crusader archers, judging by the longbows in their hands, three Crusader soldiers, and they are led by a twelve foot tall cyclops, a giant with only one eye. Khalid and the others are down on the ground, taking cover behind bushes until Ralis gives them the signal. They have been watching the Crusaders guarding the gates to the underground cavern for eight minutes, and Ralis found it uncomfortable sitting on the hard surface of the rock formation.

"So what do you plan on doing again, Ralis?" Jamven asked.

Ralis turned his head and stared at him. "Have you ever seen the crusaders carry supplies, boxes of crates into the cavern?"

Jamven thought the quesiton over carefully, searching his memories, but to no avail.

"I think I have. Before Chorster and I were trapped in those vines, I think I recall seeing a caravan leave the cavern, escorted by a group of knights."

"Was it a supply caravan? Do you know when they will return?" Jaheira asked urgently.

Jamven slowly shook his head, eyes closed in dismay. "I'm afraid I don't know that. If it is a supply caravan, they could return in a day or two from now."

Ralis grunted in disapproval. "That's not good, we can't wait that long for them. Damn it, and I had a perfect plan in mind if they did return today..."

Then, almost as if on cue, they heard the sound of horses neighing and horseshoes clopping on the ground nearby, and the sounds steadily grew closer and closer. Jaheira, Jamven, Ralis, Chorster and Jovan turned their heads to their left, technically facing south, and several yards down the fairly straightforward trail, they saw a caravan approaching. As far as they can tell, each of the two wagons are being pulled by two Appaloosa horses, flanked by four Crusader knights, two on one side, two on the other.

"Aha. The opportunity presents itself," Ralis said with an excited grin, then eased himself off the rock formation without standing up on his legs on the other end, otherwise at the distance the caravan is approaching, the lancers and Crusader patrols would see him easily.

Jovan, Jaheira, Jamven and Chorster followed his lead, landing on the end of the rock formation away from the trail.

"What is your plan?" Chorster asked.

Ralis smirked before replying. "Can you two and Jaheira summon animals, since you are druids?"

"Ah, I understand what you're thinking," Jovan smiled at Ralis.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Crusader caravan approaching the palisade gates guarded by the cyclops and several knights many yards ahead, a Crusader knight who happens to be the tallest knight in the caravan, 5 feet and 12 inches tall, named Veldes casually walked beside the caravan he had been assigned to protect, behind a fellow Crusader knight. Veldes is a new recruit, and everyone patrolling the caravan knew it, but they respected him because of his strength and expertise with a sword. He is a Damaran human, with short black hair and tawny skin.

"So. The Bloodstone Lands, huh?" The Crusader knight ahead of him said. "What brings you so far southwest?" She asked.

Veldes shrugged. "I wanted to leave Vaasa," he simply said.

"Why?" the knight ahead of him asked.

"... Forgive me, I'd rather not talk about it," Veldes said evasively.

The Crusader knight woman ahead of him nodded. Though Veldes couldn't see her hair because she wore a helmet, he judged by her accent and height that she might be a Calishite. Because of her armor protecting her skin and helmet covering her hair, he has no way of knowing her ethnicity. Before he could ask whether she is Calishite, his ears caught the sound of a twig snapping nearby even though the sound of the wagon wheels slowly grinding on the soil filled his ears.

"Wait, that-" Veldes started to exclaim as he drew his sword, then a second before he fully pulled his greatsword of from his back, a panther suddenly leapt out from the bushes nearby, followed by three lionesses, two lions and eight giant spiders! The panther mauled the woman Veldes was speaking to before the ambush, and the animals and insects immediately attacked the caravan and its guards, throwing everyone into a confused panic.

The Crusader lancers, who are not armed for battle, immediately took cover inside the caravan while the knights assigned to protect the caravan, Veldes included, fought the attackers. The cyclops and the crusader knights guarding the gates to the underground caverns that connect to Dragonspear Castle's basement saw the animals and arachnids attacking their caravan many yards ahead, and as Ralis, Jovan and Jaheira expected, they left their post to assist their allies fighting the creatures.

Ralis and his party hiding among the bushes close by couldn't help smiling, this plan worked all too well.

"Now's our chance- go!" Jaheira whispered.

Ralis and his party emerged from the bushes, approaching the gates, but Jamven and Chorster stayed behind. Jovan approached the gates first, and slowly pushed it open, then ushered his allies inside, urging them to enter quickly before the cyclops or one of his allies looks over their shoulders and catches a glimpse of them entering the gates. Viconia was the last person to enter, then Jovan entered and shut the gates. Inside the palisade, there is a small tent community outside the cavern entrance ahead. Ralis counted seven tents erected in the area, and fortunately no one seems to be here.

"Let's go," Ralis whispered, taking lead with Jovan and Corwin by his side.

The campsite is quiet. Too quiet, and Baeloth, viconia, Jaheira, Dorn and Neera believed that there might be a trap, even though they can't see it yet. Before the party got eight feet closer to the cavern entrance, they suddenly heard a voice nearby exclaim:

"Stop where thou art."

Everyone turned their heads to the right, and emerging from behind a tent, they saw a tall man clad in full plate mail armor that has no markings, not even the insignia of Caelar's crusade on the breastplate, and helmet holding a greatsword slowly approach, and a woman with tawny skin and golden brown hair behind him. The man appears to be seven inches shorter than Minsc, and he sports a thick black beard, but the length and style of his hair is unknown because his helmet covers it. The woman behind him wore a teal colored mage dress with complex patterns on it from the waist level and further down.

"I well know how to use my sword and am sworn to defend Julann," the man said.

 _Damn it. I should have known sneaking in wouldn't be so easy,_ Ralsi thought. Out loud, he said to the wary knight: "Easy there, big guy. I don't want to hurt you, whoever you are. But I want you to hurt me even less."

 _He will hurt you regardless, wael,_ Viconia thought, rolling her eyes in disapproval.

Even Baeloth, Jaheira and Dorn were disappointed at Ralis' naivete.

The woman behind the man stepped a few feet closer until she stood next to him, to his right.

"HE is Rigah ( _pronounced "Ree-gah"_ ), my strong and faithful bodyguard. I am Julann, wychlaran of Rashemen and heir to the Thrice-Burned Castle, once I find it," the woman said, her accent oddly similar to Dynaheir's.

"Thrice-Burned Castle?" Ralis frowned, finding the name nonsensical.

"I've not heard of this castle," Dorn commented.

Julann could clearly see on Ralis and Dorn's faces that they think she is deluded by a myth, a fantasy, and she is eager to put his skepticism to rest.

"Some say the Thrice-Burned Castle is a myth, but if that were so, why would I dream of it every fortnight, hmm? Answer me that!"

Ralis didn't know what to say at first, she didn't exactly make a compelling reason. Anyone can dream of anything, it doesn't always mean it exists in real life. Maybe she bought into the myth from her parents or something like that.

"Would that I could. But wait- am I to understand that you're a witch?" He asked, sensing that Rigah and Julann have something in common with two people in his party.

"I am her guardian, and she is my witch. I shall defend her with my life," Rigah proudly stated, still holding his greatsword in his hands, his posture a bit less hostile.

"Other adventurers who hail from Rashemen! This is rare fortune indeed," Dynaheir said, her eyes lighting up in surprise.

Minsc stepped forward. "I too guard my witch as if she were made of gold! Though gold is less fragile. Minsc would not worry so much if she were gold," he said.

"Unless thou hast business with us, I suggest thou movest on," Rigah said.

"You're on a dajemma, aren't you? My ally Minsc was on such a journey when I met him," Ralis said, gesturing his hands towards Minsc, and fir the first time, Rigah and Julann took notice of Minsc and Dynaheir. Rigah didn't look too surprised, his stone expression barely changed to a momentary widening of his eyes, but Julann's reaction to seeing Dynaheir and Minsc was much less subtle than Rigah's.

"Really? I KNEW following the wind would bring us good fortune! Please do bring them here and introduce us," Julann instructed, her eyes wide like a child in a candy shop.

Ralis gestured Minsc and Dynaheir to approach Rigah and Julann, and he followed behind them. As they approached, Rigah finally sheathed his greatsword.

"We are here. I am Dynaheir, wychlaran of Rashemen and traveler like thyself. This is Minsc, my bodyguard, of the Ice Dragon Berserker Lodge," Dynaheir said as she and Minsc, and Ralis approached.

"Boo and I are very pleased to meet you! Say well met, Boo." Minsc paused and let Boo on his right shoulder let out a few squeaks. "Boo says, "Well met, Boo!" Such a jester this hamster is," Minsc chuckled and smiled playfully, then when he got close enough to Rigah, they shook hands.

"Splendid, splendid! What a fortunate thing I followed the wind. Rigah said it was madness, especially when we climbed down that cliff and then jumped off that other cliff, but I KNEW it was the right direction," Julann said excitedly, barely restraining herself from jumping up and down like an excited child.

"I would like to stay and talk to thee, mine sister. It has been too long since I spoke with another from our land, save for Minsc," Dynaheir said.

"I would LOVE that, truly!" Julann exclaimed, unable to hold in her excitement, and jumped once. "Talking to ordinary folk is like talking to rabbits sometimes, don't you agree? ENOUGH WITH THE LETTUCE! But Rigah and I must be ready to move with the crusade. We may not have long to chat."

"Wait, you're telling me that you've joined the bloody crusade?" Ralis asked in disbelief.

"No! No, no, no, no, no no, not in the least," Julann vehemently denied, waving a finger at that moment. "One of Caelar's lieutenants, Hephernaan, his name is, made a very attractive offer, though."

"The crusade's face seems attractive enough, but beneath they are foul as serpents. Do not be fooled, sister," Dynaheir warned her fellow wychlaran.

"Hephernaan has a wee inner circle of arcane practitioners. If we join him, he'll share his knowledge with us! Lovely of him, that's what I say," Julann explained.

Ralis couldn't believe what he is hearing. Why hasn't Rigah and Julann noticed the chaos the crusade is causing here in the Heartlands? "Caelar may believe her cause righteous, but her followers' actions have been anything but. You'd be well-advised to break ties with them."

Julann shook her head in denial.

"I've seen no evidence of evil or corruption. If I do, I'll certainly rethink my association with the movement."

Dynaheir doubted that Julann would distrust a sister wychlaran, but a part of her is worried that she might.

"Thou must trust a sister wychlaran, Julann. The crusade is not what it seems. It has torn this land asunder!"

"This land, perhaps, but Rashemen is safe. Were that not the case, it would make a difference, but I don't see how skirmishes up in the Sword Coast affect us," Julann gently counter-argued.

"The crusade has pressed countless people into service and destroyed the villages they pass through!" Ralis said, hoping that Julann would understand, but it didn't work, even Dynaheir knew it wouldn't after hearing Julann claim she isn't concerned about Sword Coast skirmishes.

"I fail to see how this concerns me. This is not my land. I have little power here and am not one to interfere with politics regardless.

 _Yet you chose to take a side in a conflict within the Sword Coast,_ Ralis silently remarked, rolling his eyes in disappointment.

"I cannot believe what I am hearing, Ralis. Thou must help mine fellow witch. We need proof of the crusade's villainy and soon, lest she pledge her power in service to the Shining Lady," Dynaheair said pleadingly to Ralis, a seriously desperate look in her eyes that says she does not want to fight a sister wychlaran and her bodyguard in the near future, or see or her them die at another's hand in the upcoming war.

"Let's go into the cavern. Maybe we'll find some dirt on them while we find a place to put Phossey's Bwoosh barrel," Ralis said.

"I'm quite certain you'll find nothing but cobwebs in the crusade's closets- no skeletons of scandal there. But do as you will. Take care now!" Julann waved farewell.

Ralis and Dynaheir didn't bother waving goodbye to Rigah and Julann, but Minsc did, though the only thing Rigah did was nod and smile, without showing his teeth. As Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir returned to where the rest of their party is standing, they could see the concerned look on their faces.

"Dynaheir, are you all right?" Neera asked her, slowly approaching, expecting Dynaheir to want a sympathetic hug.

"Nay, Neera, I am not," Dynaheir replied, making no attempt to hug Neera, just walking by her, and Minsc followed.

* * *

Ralis led his group towards the cavern's entrance. As they approached the mouth of the cavern they noticed that they were leaving the bright daylight behind, venturing into a semi dark tunnel that slowly descended down, the floor at their feet slowly sloping down like a ramp, taking the party further and further underground. Four minutes after entering the cavern, Ralis suddenly felt something vibrate in his item bag!

"Aah!" He yelped in alarm, startling most of his party into drawing their weapons for combat.

"Ralis, what happened?!" Corwin exclaimed, holding her longbow ready to shoot at anything.

Ralis still felt something in his bag vibrating. "I don't know," he said, then reached into his bag, and pulled out the Stone Dowser that Phossey Dugdeep gave him. It still vibrated in his hand, the stone glowed white, and the necklace string attached to the stone hung loosely on the edge of Ralis' right hand, close to his thumb.

"Gods. I forgot all about this damned thing," Ralis breathed a sigh of relief.

"What is that? A rock?" Jovan asked curiously, still holding Aihonen's sword in his right hand.

"No, not just an ordinary rock. Phossey Dugdeep gave me this stone. It will act like a compass to guide us through these caverns to take us to the place where we should leave the barrel of bwoosh," Ralis explained.

His party finally relaxed, but some were grumbling in annoyance.

"Is that why you screamed like a hare being attacked by a python? Because a little stone vibrated in your bag?" Jaheira asked Ralis in a scolding manner.

"Hey, I didn't expect it to do that!" Ralis shot back defensively. "Now come on, time is wasting," he said impatiently then continued going down the tunnel, silently cursing at himself for not expecting the unexpected.

It didn't take them long to reach the end of the sloping ground. Their feet finally touched flat ground, and up ahead they saw an open space lit by a few torches, and there are many crusaders in the area, doing all kinds of jobs, sorting crates containing foods, drinks, weapons and the like. Every crusader here is so engrossed with the assignments they have been tasked to do, almost no one noticed the arrival of Ralis and his party... except for one person. A gnome man with a thick, braided silver sideburns and braided hair wearing plate armor with the symbol of Caelar's crusade on the breastplate approached them, but not with his weapons drawn, for which Ralis and Corwin are relieved to see.

"What was all that racket?" The gnome asked them.

 _He must have heard me yelp when I felt the Stone Dowser vibrate,_ Ralis realized.

"It was nothing," Ralis said almost without hesitation. "Just a... a fight with a squirrel got a bit out of hand," he said, and then frowned up as if he tasted a sour lemon because he noticed how stupid his alibi is.

Even Baeloth, Viconia, Dorn, Khalid, Jaheira, Corwin, Jovan and M'khiin couldn't believe Ralis came up with such a childish, nonsensical excuse. But by some miracle, the gnome seemed to buy it.

"What, again?! Gods help us..." He said in a worried tone.

"We are new recruits to the crusade," Ralis immediately said before the gnome could get around to asking who they are and what they are doing here. "Apparently we haven't got our uniforms yet, our first task for the crusade is to take this barrel to Dragonspear Castle," he added, pointing back at Dorn who is holding the barrel bwoosh with both of his hands.

Again, the gnome bought it.

"Then welcome, new recruits! What can I do for you today?" The gnome asked.

"Who are you, and what is this place?" Ralis asked.

"Name's Ladle. I'm the lead supervisor for this depot. I organize, I direct," the gnome introduced himself and bowed respectfully at Ralis and his party, then he gestured them to follow him, and he took them on a tour. "This is an underground supply depot. We receive supplies for the castle here, then transport them up to Dragonspear. Not a glamorous job, I'll admit, but an important one," Ladle said in a mildly cheerful tone, making hand gestures at every crate they passed by.

Ralis guessed that judging by the large number of crates in the area, there must be over 200 crates in this place, and none of the crusaders are making any attempt to head further north towards the bridge that stretches over the underground river to go deeper into the caverns with the supplies.

"Why are there so many crates stacked in here?" Ralis asked.

Ladle stopped walking and turned around to face the young human with a dismayed frown.

"Fishfolk, that's why. Shoogen or however you call them," he replied.

Ralis racked his mind for any fish folk that go by the name "Shoogen", but nothing came to mind, no memories of his studies in Candlekeep rang any bells.

"Fishfolk?" He asked Ladle for clarification.

"Nasty creatures with scaly hides and sharp teeth. Run at you with a spear as soon as they see you. They've taken ovver a cavern across the bridge over there and blocked our path to the castle," Ladle explained.

"Perhaps I can speak with these creatures, try and negotiate passage for the supplies," Viconia said.

"I doubt it, but knock yourself out," Ladle replied to the hooded woman.

Ralis guessed that the only fishfolk that match Ladle's description are either the kuo-toa or sahuagin (pronounced "Sah-hwah-gin").

"Is there any way around them?" Corwin asked the gnome.

Ladle gently stroked the left side of his braided sideburn in thought for a few seconds, then said:

"Well, there might be. See that rising path over there, southwest from us?"

Ladle pointed over in that direction, and Ralis and his party saw a pathway several yards away in the corner of the room close to where they entered that is elevated up from flat ground, curving to the right, the pathway disappearing from view behind two thick stalagmites and a large boulder formation between them.

"If you follow that path over there, you'll find yourself in an underground forest... sort of," Ladle continued.

"Underground forest?" Baeloth asked, keeping his face hidden under his hood like Viconia.

"Yeah. Strange, isn't it?" Ladle nodded in reply.

"And you think an alternate route to Dragonspear Castle is that way?" Corwin asked the gnome.

"I'm not rightly sure. I sent seven scouts for a reconnaissance mission that way a few days ago. Only three of them returned, telling me that route is not safe, there are angry dryads, mushroom people and treants that way."

"Treants? Oh great..." Neera muttered, recalling her encounter with Turlang in the High Forest after her wild magic accidentally set off a fire when she tried to defend herself from attacking orcs.

"Well, if its the only alternate route to Dragonspear Castle, we'll take that route," Ralis said.

"Best of luck to you then," Ladle said. "But if you get yourself killed, don't expect any of us to come search for your body."

"The only body you will find are the bodies of anyone who stands in our way," Dorn said.

Ladle's eyes widened in astonishment at what the half-orc said, and Ralis glanced over at Dorn, then turned his attention to Ladle.

"...Yeah. What he said," he said to the gnome, then took the lead, heading over to the elevated curving path near the entrance to the tunnel they entered that would take them back up to the surface where Rigah and Julann are.

They walked up the rising, curving path, and as they did they heard some of the crusaders watching them speak among themselves, saying how stupid they are to wander into the more dangerous part of these caverns. Thirty steps later they passed by the large boulder between the two thick stalagmites, disappearing from Ladle's view, and followed the path until they noticed that the stalagmites around the trail they are following have green moss covering them, and several steps ahead later, they saw vegetation. Ferns, bushes, mushrooms of various shapes and sizes and more moss all over the place, making this new section of the cavern look almost like a forest. An underground forest.

"Will ya look at that!" Neera's eyes sparkled in wonderment when she saw five bright green fireflies fly over her head.

"Whoa! Look at all the colors! I should explore caverns more often," Glint commented in awe.

"I've never seen anything like this," Jovan remarked.

"Admire the unmatched beauty of nature while you can, Neera. You too, Glint and Jovan. Though this place is beautiful, there is no mistaking the traces of danger nearby," Jaheira said warily.

The trail ahead curved to the left about fifteen steps ahead, what lies beyond is obscured by three tall moss covered stalagmites bunched up together. When they reached the curve, Ralis and his party saw that the trail now goes straight forward about 60 yards, and at the end of the trail, near a cluster of blue glowing mushrooms is a temple door, and standing in front of the temple door is a druid. He is human, judging by his height, and the fact that he does not have pointy ears, he is wearing dark silver robes, and he has receding dark gray hair around his bald spot. The druid did nothing but stand there as if he were a statue, and as Ralis and his party walked down the trail approaching him, they wondered when he will notice them.

"Is he blind or deaf?" Dynaheir whispered over to Jovan, and he shrugged in response.

The odd druid never evoked any kind of response, as if he were meditating while standing on his feet. Eventually he did notice Ralis and his party, but not until they came 20 yards close to him. Ralis felt his heart jump when he saw the druid look directly at him and his group.

"Stop where you are. Dangerous creatures roam these caverns. If you value your life, go back from whence you came," the druid warned them, his voice nearly devoid of emotion.

"We are more than capable of defending ourselves. If this place were dangerous, you would not live here," Ralis responded.

The druid's eyes scowled a bit more sharper than before, as if Ralis' reply annoyed him a bit.

"You trespass in my home. Surface-dwellers are not welcome here, save for Hephernaan and those who bow to him."

"What kind of dangerous creatures?" Ralis asked.

"That is not for you to know," The druid said, waving his right hand dismissively at the intruders. "I've said what I came to say. Turn back. I'll not help you when you run afoul of my children. You have been warned," The druid turned his back on the interlopers, opened the door and stepped inside his temple, closing the door shut behind him.

"I t-t-think that was Ferrusk, the r-r-rogue druid Jamven and Chorster mentioned," Khalid observed.

"Are you sure? How can we be sure?" Corwin asked.

"Do you recall what Jamven told us? He told us that Ferrusk has become dark and corrupted. If he corrupted his... "children" too, then that's how we'll know," Jaheira said.

Corwin and Ralis felt a cold shiver run up and down their spines. Whatever is down here, they are not looking forward to encountering them, but they must press on.

* * *

They walked past the temple, following the trail for the next several minutes as it twisted, curved and branched out in many different directions, taking them further and further away from the area of the cavern where Ladle and the other crusaders are apparently safe. Left turn and right turn, the trail took them. sometimes the trail branched off in two or three different directions. Ralis and his party weren't sure is they were heading the right direction, all they have to do is hope. Along the way, they encountered corrupted creatures like corrupted dryads, dark treants and hostile mushroom people called myconids. The first hostile encounter they had was against two dark treants and a corrupted dryad two minutes later after their encounter with Ferrusk. Treants are tree creatures with arms, legs and a face complete with eyes, a nose and mouth. Seeing the dark treants was rather disturbing and a bit scary for Neera's eyes, as they are a reflection of what Turlang could have been, a treant that would kill any threat to a forest without mercy. Since she has met Turlang before, she knew how treants should normally look. Their wooden bodies are supposed to be vibrant and healthy looking, and bright green leaves should be growing from the branches attached to their head, shoulders and arms, but these dark treants look different from normal treants, their physical appearance signifies that they are definitely corrupted by an evil force. The wood and bark on their bodies are almost as black as Viconia and Baeloth's skin, and the twigs and branches on their heads, shoulders and arms are completely bare, no leaves were growing on them.

As for the hamadryad, they are supposed to be benign creatures, as far as Jaheira knew about them. From what she has heard about these fey creatures that resemble beautiful women with bodies that seem to be made of finely polished, soft wood, their hair made of leaves and foliage, they should attempt to warn off intruders first before attacking, but this dryad seems intent on attacking with the two dark treants. And even more confusing to Jaheira, she heard that dryads are supposed to be magically bound to a tree, serving as a dryad's life force and home, they can't stay alive without a tree they have bonded to, and they cannot venture too far away from their tree either, and there are apparently no trees here in this cavern for the dryad to bond to, yet it is still alive, and looks just as corrupted as the dark treant, the soft wood of her body appearing old and faded, the foliage of her hair dead yet not rotting away, and the glare of pure malice in her eyes.

The dryad attempted to cast the Entangle spell on Ralis and his party as the dark treants stomped towards them, growling like feral dogs, but Dynaheir countered the spell by casting Dispel Magic seconds after the dryad's spell caused vines to sprout up from the thick clumps of moss on the sides of the pathway and grab Ralis and his party to render them defenseless while the dark treants move in to attack them, but thanks to Dynaheir's foresight and use of spells, that strategy did not work, and Corwin fired an arrow at the dryad, and the arrow hit the dryad below her neck, between her clavicle, killing her almost instantly.

Minsc, Voghiln, Khalid, Jaheira, Viconia, Jovan and Dorn charged forward to attack the corrupted treants, though Dorn had to put down the barrel of bwoosh first, and Ralis joined them. The two treants were overwhelmed, being attacked in melee combat, and in ranged combat, Dynaheir, Neera and Glint used their slings to throw sling bullets at them, Baeloth fired magic missiles. It didn't take long for the dark treants to die, they couldn't handle being attacked by so many opponents, so many swords, maces, arrows and sling bullets cutting, splintering and breaking their wooden bodies. Afterwards, their second encounter with more dark treants occurred three minutes later as they journeyed through the cavern forest. Ralis and his group encountered dark treants and myconids more often than corrupted dryads, for which Dynaheir is thankful for, she wants to save her last memorized Dispel Magic spell for a more pressing battle. Fighting myconids were tricky though, because of their spores disorienting them. When they weren't in combat, Neera, Glint and Ralis took the time to admire the fireflies that emit a bright green light as they fly around.

Thirty minutes later, Ralis and his party continued to journey deeper into the underground forest, a sizable trail of dead dark treants and a less than a dozen corrupted dryads further back on the trail, and Jovan assumed that they must be two or three miles away from Ferrusk's private temple and Ladle's safe zone.

"Ahhh! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Neera exclaimed loudly without warning, holding her head with both hands and bending over slightly as if she has a severe migraine, dropping her staff in the process.

Ralis immediately rushed over to her and placed his right hand over her mouth, afraid that her yelling might attract nearby dark treants and corrupted dryads.

"Would there be any positive benefit to me pointing out that you're the one hollering at the top of her lungs, not me?" Ralis asked her while gritting his teeth.

Neera then stood up straight and exhaled.

"Sorry, sorry. You're right. It's Adoy irritating me again," she explained calmly. "The closer we get to the Fugue Plane, the louder he gets."

"We're getting close to the Fugue Plane? I thought it was on a mountain," Ralis said, scratching his head.

Neera nodded at him. "That's what he said- I think that's what he said. Keep an eye out."

The group continued to journey through the underground forest, being wary of any more possible encounters against dark treants, myconids dryads and whatever other creature they haven't encountered yet.

"Wait," Jovan said after taking twenty three steps forward with his companions.

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"I hear something," he said without waiting for a reply. "It sounds like water," he added.

"Really? Ralis asked with curiosity.

"Well, I am a little thirsty..." Khalid admitted.

"It sounds like it is north from our direction," Jovan said.

And as luck would have it, Ralis andd his group found a branching trail that goes north. They headed north until they found the river. It is the same underground river that that they saw back where Ladle and the other crusaders are with their supplies, which means if they want to go back the way they came, all they have to do is follow the river back.

"Well, this is convenient. This river can help guide us back to the cavern's exit when we need to go back," Jaheira said.

Ralis looked over his left shoulder and saw Khalid come up beside him, staring down at the water, wondering if the water is safe to drink or not.

"I'll test it first," Ralis offered.

He crouched down on his knees, and scooped up the water with both hands. He smiled when he felt how cool the water felt when his hands touched it. He brought his cupped hands up to his lips and drank the water.

"Well?" Neera asked impatiently.

Ralis turned to look at Khalid and Neera, standing side by side, trying their hardest to wait for him to answer.

"Relax, the water is fine, and cool, too," Ralis smiled at them.

"Hey! On the other side of the river! Who is that?" Jovan pointed out.

Confused, Ralis focused his eyes on the other side of the river, which is a bit too far for him to jump across. On the other side, he saw that mysterious hooded man. Has he been tailing them all this time?

"You!" Ralis exclaimed, pointing accusingly at him.

"She has bested you already, and you know it not. You are here, buried beneath the dirt, while she prepares for victory far above. Is this your grand plan? I had hoped for more from one of your lineage," the mysterious man chastised Ralis.

For the first time, Ralis felt a brewing urge to rip this arrogant man's head off from his neck. Who does he think he is, scolding him like a parent to a child? What the hell does he expect?

"Defeating Caelar will take the efforts of more than any one man, no matter how powerful he may be. I am comfortable with the role I play. Ultimately, we will stand triumphant," Ralis rebuked him.

"All have a part to play, it is true. But will you stand center stage and command the respect you are due, or fade into the background, another anonymous player whose name will be lost to history?" The hooded man responded.

Ralis decided not to answer that question. It is true that not every hero that has saved the lands of Faerun from various threats over the past ten thousand years is remembered in history books by name or identity, but in the end their deed will leave an impact on the land.

"Your army has grown fat with purpose, courageous and utterly devoted to their cause. What reason have you to be HERE, child of Bhaal? What is it that has driven you to such inglorious confines?" The hooded man jabbed at Ralis again with another provoking question, the tone of his voice hinting that he is disappointed in Ralis' course of action for some reason.

"Curiosity. I want to see where this leads," Ralis replied firmly.

"Curiosity has its uses, to be sure. But take care not to gaze too deeply into matters beyond your understanding, lest you find yourself in possession of answers you'd rather not have," the hooded man said slowly and ominously.

"Now I have a question for you. Why are you so interested in following me?" Ralis asked, eager to throw his own questions at this mysterious man.

The hooded man relaxed his posture a bit more, then crossed his arms before speaking. "Suffice it to say that I am amused at the paths that you have chosen to take ever since you felled Sarevok by your own hands. Your path twists and forks like a serpent's tongue. With every word you utter, every enemy you fell, your soul becomes clearer to me. You left your home, engaged on this march, faced danger and death to stop Caelar Argent. And yet you refuse to use the weapon at hand, rejecting poison as "dishonorable". You would let the crusade trample innocents into the dust rather than besmirch your reputation," the hooded man said.

Ralis bristled involuntarily. He never considered the consequences of refusing to use deLancie's poison.

"That doesn't clearly answer my question. What are you seeking?" Ralis asked, trying to control his temper.

"I seek someone with the potential I require to move forward. I have found two candidates. Do I choose the child of light..." The hooded man raised his right arm up to chest level, the palm of his hand facing the stalactite covered ceiling. "... or the child of death?" He then raised his left arm up to chest level just like his right arm. "Which of you is worthy?" He asked Ralis.

Ralis shook his head. "I dance to my own tune. I suggest you look to Caelar," he suggested.

The hooded man crossed his arms again.

"The Shining Lady has secrets hidden even from herself, as do you. What happened on Boareskyr Bridge should have taught you that much, if nothing else," the hooded man said.

Ralis had a feeling that this man knows more than what he is letting on. Is he hinting that there are secrets even Caelar doesn't know? If she doesn't know, who does?

"What do you know that I don't?" Ralis asked.

"There are many forces at play, more than you realize. And there is much at stake. Dragonspear Castle offers more to you than an opportunity for reconnaissance and sabotage. There, you may spy the snake that nestles in Caelar's bosom. Use the gifts you have, and you may learn more about the threat you truly face."

At that, the hooded man turned his back on everyone and started walking away, a thick cloud of mist wafted ahead of Ralis and his party, obscuring the hooded man's departure.

"Whoever that man is, he's playing at some angle," Jaheira said warily.

"I agree. He wants s-s-something from you, Ralis," Khalid said.

"Do you have any idea who he might be or what he wants from you?" Corwin asked.

Ralis shook his head. "I have no clue... Whoever he is, he has been watching me ever since we left Baldur's Gate, and he clearly has his own agenda. Question is, what does he want from me? And how does he plan on getting it?" He replied, his expression darkening.

* * *

The group continued walking west for one more mile, and soon they found themselves at what looks to be an entrance to a city. There is a large statue of an armored dwarf wearing cloaks and holding swords to the right side of the entrance, the statue on the left has been damaged. The statues held their sword with the blade pointed down towards the ground between their feet, both hands grasping the handle.

"What is over there?" Ralis asked his group, hoping someone had a good educated guess.

Baeloth stepped forward and pulled down his hood, looking at the entrance in awe.

"I surmise that there could be a city of dwarves past that gate," Baeloth said.

"The last dwarven city I've visited was abandoned. I don't think this one will be any different, judging by that broken statue over there," Jovan pointed out.

"Well, let's get moving. Neera keeps on hearing Adoy's voice, so we must be getting close to this Mountain of-" Ralis said, walking closer to the gateway to the dwarven city, but he stopped speaking and froze when he saw thick mist materialize 30 yards ahead of him, and the mist took the form of a large ghostly copper dragon, judging by the way its wings connect to its body, connecting to the tip of its tail. And judging by the dragon's size, it must have been far older than Morentherene before it died.

"Stop! You will go no further. I am Halatathlaer, and I guard the entrance to Kanaglym. There is no passage here but through me, which means there is no passage at all," the dragon said, rearing back as if he is preparing to pounce on them.

Ralis was surprised that the ghostly dragon Halatathlaer is male, because so far every dragon he has personally encountered in the past, alive or as a ghost, have been all female. He thought Halatathlaer would be the same gender as Mirrym in the catacombs of Candlekeep, and that annoying young green dragon he rescued from the hill giants on the southwestern outskirts of the Forest of Wyrms, and the half green dragon twins Morentherene and Ziatar. Ralis also realized that Halatathlaer is not a chromatic dragon, he is a copper dragon, one of the metallic dragons, the species of dragons that are more reasonable or friendly to humans, elves and other races that chromatic dragons would normally consider slaves and prey, which means he won't attack Ralis unless he gives him a reason to.

"I don't want to fight you, Halatathlaer," Ralis said sincerely, holding his hands up at chest level to show he is not trying to reach for his bastard swords or longbow.

Halatathlaer relaxed his posture, standing on all fours evenly, then sat on his rear end like a cat would.

"You are wise not to," he said.

Ralis blinked in amusement, taking that remark as a compliment.

"Wise? There's something I'm rarely called," Ralis said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Begone, human. None shall pass through here. All that try shall die. I can say no more," Halatathlaer said, but his tone was not threatening, which is strange, coming from a creature that must guard an entrance to a city of dwarves or something else.

"Cannot? Or will not?" Ralis asked inquisitively.

"My essence is bound to this task. Beyond me you will find nothing but death. Begone," Halatathlaer replied, again, not sounding as if he intends on attacking them in a few seconds.

A thought then came to Ralis. Maybe he is trying to send him a message. He said that his essence was bound to this task, but who is controlling his actions? And are they in full control? If there is someone in Kanaglym doing something terrible, then they would capture and bound Halatathlaer to be a guard. If Halatathlaer wants Ralis to go in Kanaglym and stop whoever is up to no good, he cannot say that she wishes them to help, he must maintain his cover as a fearsome, loyal guard to Kanaglym. After all, he is Daeros Dragonspear's partner when they were alive, before Dragonspear Castle fell. Ralis already figured out that Halatathlaer is the very same Halatathlaer he heard about that once lived in Dragonspear Castle with his half-dwarf friend Daeros. He has personally seen his skeletal remains draped on the roof of Dragonspear Castle when he entered the castle with Corwin to search for Skie the other day. Or maybe the skeletal dragon corpse is another dragon, who knows?

"I don't suppose there's any wiggle room here, huh?" Ralis asked fearlessly.

"Ralis, what are you doing? Are you stupid?!" Jaheira exclaimed.

"The _wael_ has a death wish," Viconia said.

"Do what you will, human, and face the consequences," Halatathlaer said, showing his spectral sharp teeth.

Ralis took a step forward and Jovan and Khalid grabbed his arms.

"Let me go," I know what I'm doing... I think," Ralis said.

Then Jovan and Khalid reluctantly let go of him, and they watched as Ralis slowly walked towards the dragon. Ralis kept his eyes glued on Halatathlaer's head. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw him smirk a little.

"Begone, human. None shall pass through here. All that try shall die," he warned him.

Ralis paid no attention to the dragon's warning, though he did feel his heart pounding when he got up close to his large, ghostly form. Part of him warned him to turn around and run away, but he willed himself to ignore the orders of his instincts and keep walking forward.

"He is dead. He is so dead, this is not good," Glint whimpered fearfully.

Halatathlaer couldn't contain his astonishment any longer. He watched in amazement as Ralis walked past him, heading for the gates. After he passed by his tail, he turned around to face him.

"Good. I am glad you were courageous enough to pass me by," he said in relief.

"You really wanted me to walk by you? What trickery is this? What awaits me on the other side of this door?" Ralis asked the dragon.

"I did as I was bid, but I'll do no more than that. Your passage will displease my master, which pleases me greatly. Fare thee well in lost Kanaglym," Halatathlaer replied.

Ralis saw his companions approaching from behind the dragon, then he looked up at his head towering above him.

"What exactly is a Kanaglym? Is it a city? And why am I going into it?" Ralis asked the dragon.

"I can say its name, but nothing more. Now go, before your presence is discovered," Halatathlaer replied, then his ghostly form broke away into simple wisps of mist and floated away in separate directions.

Ralis and his party wasted no time in approaching the gates of Kanaglym and opening them. Though they couldn't help wondering what they might find in here. Is it the mountain of Nepenthe, or something worse?


	16. Chapter 16 Unfamiliar, Yet Familiar Evil

After stepping through the large gate, the group found themselves standing in the abandoned dwarven city of Kanaglym. A very old city with a surprisingly short history. It was founded some time during the year 722 DR, when the High Moor used to be warm and fertile. Resilient and relentless, the dwarves of Kanaglym repelled an attack from the drow who came from a city called Zanhoriloch and took the fight to the drow in their own city and drove them out, claiming Zanhoriloch as a dwarf city. One year after Kanaglym was built, the city's water supply ran dry, and the dwarves dug deeper into the water well shaft until they found water, but it was not normal water, it was the Waters of Forgetfulness, and the dwarves abandoned the city a month later. During the Time of Troubles, the soul of the man who became Bhaal's avatar at that time, Kae Deverell, a disgruntled commander of Cormyr's Purple Dragon knights, searched for the Fugue Plane entrance in this city after he and Bhaal were felled by Cyric's god killing sword, "Godsbane".

Ralis and his group carefully walked forward as they took in their surroundings. The four pillars ahead of them and the residential houses around them are all made out of perfectly carved underground stone, and surrounding each door to a building are a pair of torches, lighting up the area. As far as Ralis and his group could tell, the immediate area around them before the bridge up ahead suspended over a seemingly bottomless chasm seems to be the residential parts of Kanaglym. To their left and right, the number of residential houses extended likely a thousand meters away from where they stood, and the ceiling is a few hundred meters above their heads.

"Wow. This place reminds me of Dorn's Deep," Jovan said, as they entered in between the four pillars, not whispering but keeping his voice as low as possible so that his companions close by can hear what he said. "The only difference is this city isn't as hot as Dorn's Deep was," Jovan added a second later.

"Shh. Keep it down," Corwin reminded Jovan.

"She's right. We don't know who or what is in here," Jaheira agreed.

"So where to now?" Baeloth turned to Ralis for advice.

Ralis peered ahead beyond the last two sets of pillars and saw a 14 foot tall dwarf statue holding a war hammer upwards with both hands, and a round shield attached to its back, and for some strange reason, bright purple light reflected off of the statue. Whatever that statue is standing near across the bridge, it must be something out of the ordinary, and Ralis had every intention on finding out what it may be.

"This way," he whispered, beckoning his group to follow him.

They headed towards the bridge that is made of stone, and wide enough for a cart or wagon to pass over without the risk of falling over the edge, though the bridge does not have any railings. After crossing the bridge, ralis finally saw what is emitting that bright purple light. Thirty feet ahead of them after crossing the bridge is a cracked open hole in the stone floor inches near the feet of the tall dwarf statue. The hole is roughly shaped like a star, and from where Ralis and his party stood, they couldn't see what is below.

"Ralis, look," Corwin whispered, pointing northeast from where they were facing, and he saw two mages standing close to a man wearing nothing but a shabby and dirty small white shirt and underwear, who is standing closer to the edge of the pit, and a few feet behind them stood five more men, looking terrified beyond rational thought, and behind them are three animated skeletons clad in decrepit plate mail body armor and helmets, holding their rusty, yet sharp swords ready in case one of the men try to escape.

"Oh damn! Hide!" Ralis whispered, then almost immediately, he and Corwin, Minsc, Glint, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jovan hid behind the thick stone pillar to their right, and Baeloth, Dorn, Viconia, M'khiin, Voghiln, Jaheira and Neera hid behind the other pillar to the left.

Fortunately the pillars are thick enough to hide them all. Ralis, Corwin and Minsc peered out from behind the pillar, and they saw one of the mages, the one with short black hair and wearing the violet colored robes speak to the man trebling in fear standing near the edge of the hole, on the opposite end of the giant dwarf statue.

"Are you ready to serve the master's will?" The mage asked the terrified man.

"No! Gods, please! Don't do this!" The man pleaded, trying to find a way to escape, but the mages blocked his way away from the hole's edge.

"What the hells is this now?" Corwin whispered, scowling sharply.

"Something evil. Boo says many butts here are in need of kicking. Where to begin?" Minsc whispered back to Corwin, but keeping his glaring eyes on the mages, the growling tone of his voice hinting that he is raring to let loose.

Ralis wasn't sure if intervening now or waiting to see what might happen is a good idea or not.

"Do not struggle. Surrender your life to us, and your body to him," the bald mage in the red and teal colored robes said calmly and ominously as he placed his hands on the man who is meant to be some kind of sacrifice, preparing to throw him into the hole.

" _No! No, please!_ _"_ The man pleaded over and over, still struggling.

"Ralis, what do we do?" Corwin asked him.

Ralis shook his head, closing his eyes. He still wasn't sure that exposing himself to save this man's life is a good idea in the long term, but whatever these evil magicians are up to, he wanted to put a permanent stop to it. So acting on impulse, he jumped out from behind the pillar, approaching the magicians.

"Release that man!" He shouted at the magicians as he pulled his Dead Shot longbow out from behind his back and grabbed an arrow out of his quiver, a regular arrow, not the special ones Hillcarver made for him back in Bridgefort.

The mages gasped and saw a young human approaching them holding a longbow ready to shoot at them, and behind him several more unknown people emerged from the pillars, ready to fight.

"Brothers! Kherriun! We are not alone!" The mage with short black hair exclaimed.

Minsc charged forward, heading for the three animated skeletons with Khalid following close behind him.

"Face the hamster's justice, minions of evil! Here comes three hundred pounds of justice!" Minsc exclaimed.

"R-r-right behind you!" Khalid exclaimed to Minsc.

The five men that the three undead sentries were guarding attempted to escape in the confusion. By the time the undead sentries realized that the men that were meant to be sacrificed are escaping, they were forced into a melee fight against Minsc and Khalid. Minsc ran his broadsword right through the chest of one of the animated skeletons, piercing the armor and the rib cage, then Minsc raised his sword high, sending the skeleton he impaled up with the blaide, then he brought the sword down towards the other skeleton, smashing them both into pieces of bones. Khalid charged at the third skeleton and leaped at it blocking the skeleton's strike with his shield, then Khalid bashed his shield against the skeleton's head, then spun around and chopped off the skeleton's head.

While this was happening, Ralis took aim at the magician near the man at the edge of the hole. The mage is attempting to cast a spell, possibly Hold Person, so Ralis took careful aim at him and fired while Corwin fired her own arrow at the other magician. Ralis' arrow missed the magician, and so did Glint throwing a sling bullet, but the arrow came closest to striking him in the head more than Glint's sling bullet. The magician dodged by tilting his head aside, but he had to interrupt his spell otherwise the arrow would graze the left side of his face. But fortunately Dynaheir standing four feet behind Ralis and glint corrected their blunder by casting Melf's Acid Arrow seconds before the magician resumed casting his spell, the two bright red orbs struck him in the chest, and Corwin's arrow struck true to the other magician, between his eyes, then the last man ran towards the bridge, joining his fleeing compatriots.

The fight was relatively quick, Baeloth, Viconia, M'khiin, Voghiln, Jaheira and Neera were only a few feet away from the pillar they were hiding behind, they couldn't join in the fight in time. However, Jaheira, Viconia and Voghiln noticed that several yards behind the dwarf statue, another group of people, nine more mages, six men, three women, all human, their robes in crusader colors and the emblem of Caelar's crusade on the chest area of their clothing, accompanied by seven zombies wearing tattered clothing, were heading their way, likely to come to the aid of the mages Ralis and Corwin just killed.

"Oh, perfect. Look alive! We got more company!" Jaheira called to Ralis, Corwin, Dynaheir, Minsc and Khalid.

Jaheira's call caught the attention of Ralis and the others and they noticed the magicians and their zombie puppets on the other side of the gaping hole coming their way from the bridge's side of the hole. One of the mages is Kherriun, the woman the mage Dynaheir killed tried to call. She is the tallest and most regal woman in the cabal of evil magicians, having shoulder length golden brown hair, dark green eyes, fair complexion, high cheekbones and she held a magically enhanced Quarterstaff of Striking, a special quarterstaff with metal parts on both ends, meant to break bones more effectively than a fully wooden quarterstaff.

"Ye cause much harm here, and we shan't allow it!" A mage woman behind Kherriun with long black hair exclaimed to the fourteen intruders many yards ahead of them.

Kherriun herself pointed directly at Ralis and exclaimed: "You! I recognize you! The Lord of Murder's heir! You know not what you have stumbled upon!"

While Keherriun was speaking to him, Ralis notched another regular arrow from his quiver, still refusing to use one of his 29 void-tipped arrows. He has seven regular arrows left, so he must make them count.

"Oh I think I know what I've stumbled on! You wear the uniform of Caelar's crusade, which proves that Caelar Argent's motives are evil after all! I never guessed that she is into sacrificial ceremonies," Ralis shouted back at Kherriun.

"Fool!" Kherriun shot back. "You think The Shining Lady is the one we answer to? Enough of this! You have seen too much, and we cannot let you live!" Kherriun reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a glass jar, raising it up above her head. "Dragon! End this farce!" Kherriun exclaimed, as her magicians prepared to cast spells at the intruders, and the zombies lumbered towards them.

Ralis gasped, quickly realizing that Kherriun must be the one who commanded Halatathlaer to guard the entrance to Kanaglym. Now that she commanded him to attack him and his companions, Halatathlaer will have no choice but to do as Kherriun commands. Ralis knew that he must act fast before Halatathlaer arrives. The only solution he could think of in that split second is if he could fire his arrow at the jar and shatter it, Kherriun might lose control of Halatathlaer that way. While Minsc, Khalid, Jaheira Voghiln and Dorn charged forward to meet the zombies in melee combat, Viconia, Dynaheir, Neera and Baeloth stayed behind to cast spells, and Corwin fired an arrow at one of the magicians, who cast Protection From Regular missiles on himself in time, saving his life, M'Khiin used her shaman power to call spirits to help aid them, Ralis took aim at the jar that is raised high above Kherriun's head, held up by his right hand, he aimed carefully for two seconds, then released the arrow. He silently prayed to Tymora for luck as the arrow flew through the air, hoping he doesn't miss. If he misses, they are in deep trouble. The arrow gracefully flew the 32 foot distance towards the jar in Kherriun's outstretched left arm, then...

 _*KRISHH!*_

The arrow's sharp triangular head struck the jar, shattering the glass! Shards of glass fell around Kherriun head, and her triumphant facial expression changed into a horrified one.

"No! The ghost jar has shattered!" She exclaimed fearfully.

As Ralis expected, losing the jar has freed Halatathlaer from Kherriun's control!

"Yes!" Ralis grinned as Viconia cast the Slow spell on the mages, slowing their attempts to cast protection spells on themselves, and the zombies were felled by the blades of Minsc, Dorn, Khalid, Jaheira and Voghiln.

Suddenly everyone heard a loud, masculine voice exclaim: "Free at last from that wretched jar!"

Then Halatathlaer's ghostly body formed behind the magicians. Still affected by Viconia's Slow spell, the mages slowly turned around to see the incorporeal form of an ancient copper dragon standing behind them. Halatathlaer lowered his head a few feet and growled at them. The Dragon Fear ability that all dragons have took effect on most of Kherriun's mages, excluding herself. Being in the presence of a ghostly dragon made them want to wet their pantaloons.

"No! I must escape!" The black haired mage woman tried to run away, slowly, and Halatathlaer wasted no time attacking them, she turned around and tail whipped the mage woman, sending her flying towards the dwarf statue, and her head cracked upon impact against the statue's right leg like an egg.

Ralis and his companions watched as Halatathlaer proceeded to tear apart Kherriun and her remaining fellow mages, as they tried to run away at turtle speed. Even though Kherriun is the only mage unaffected by the Slow spell and resisted being stricken by fear, she knew she had no chance fighting Halatathlaer and Ralis and his group by herself, so she tried to run away, but Halatathlaer snatched the mage into her jaws and threw her halfway across the city, landing somewhere in the distance, likely dead upon impact against a building or the ground since the chances of her landing on something soft in this place is highly unlikely.

After all the dark mages were defeated, Halatathlar casually approached Ralis and his group, then he nodded at Ralis respectfully.

"I am in your debt, little one," he said.

Ralis nodded in return. "And I am in yours. We could have never defeated all of these fiends without your help, would not even made it past the doors had you not allowed it. I am Ralis, and these are my traveling companions."

"My name is Halatathlaer. I wish I could have helped more. As it was, it was simply good fortune Kherriun ordered me to do what was in my power to prevent intruders, rather than ALL that was in my power. 'Twas just one word that stood between her and her end."

"Do you know who these people are, Halatathlaer?" Ralis asked, hoping that he knows some valuable information.

"They were foul creatures, the lot of them. They called their master the Riven King, and the stink of the Hells was upon them. Such beasts are capable of nothing but evil. They scheme in the shadows, spreading darkness wherever they are able," Halatathlaer replied spitefully.

Ralis frowned, sensing something is not adding up properly. Unless Caelar has an ulterior motive, why is she working with servants of this Riven King, whoever he is?

"Do you know who is the leader of these magicians?" Ralis asked.

Halatathlaer nodded. "A man- if man he truly be- named Hephernaan. He is a creature of deception, a worm wrapped in rose petals. His evil is insidious. He is a sickness growing inside a healthy body, destroying it unawares until it is too late. Be wary of him," he said with a serious tone in his voice.

"But Hephernaan serves Caelar..." Ralis said skeptically, having difficulty seeing how it is possible Hephernaan is acting behind Caelar's back.

Halatathlaer shrugged his front legs. "Perhaps," he said. "My perspective was limited. What time I did not spend guarding Kanaglym's entrance was willed away inside that accursed ghost jar. All I know of Caelar was cobbled together from half-heard fragments of conversation. I do not know the woman. She never ventured down to Kanaglym."

Ralis shook his head trying to piece everything together. Even if Hephernaan is acting on his own, with his own agenda, how could he be possibly doing it? He swears loyalty to Caelar, or so it seems. If he is not loyal to Caelar, where does his true loyalty lie? Himself, or to someone else?

"I find it hard to believe this sort of effort could be taking place right under her nose without her knowledge," Ralis said, making his thoughts no secret.

"I could not say," Halatathlaer said cluelessly yet casually. "But the waters of Nepenthe call, and I can no longer resist them. I must go now. If you happen upon my old friend Daeros, tell him Halatathlaer has not abandoned him. I shall await him in the Fugue Plane for as long as I am able."

Ralis nodded once. "If we cross paths, I will make a point of passing your message along. May you find peace in the next world."

"Farewell, child of Bhaal. The road before you is dark and full of peril. To navigate its twists and turns, you will need allies... friends. Choose them wisely," Halatathlaer instructed as her ghostly form slowly began to transform into vaporous mist. "Now I must depart- Nepenthe calls me to the Fugue Plane..." he said before he fully transformed into mist.

Then the mist that was once Halatathlaer drifted up high in the air above the hole, then fell straight down into it.

Corwin frowned in amusement, scratching her scalp under her black hair.

"Well, that was... That was something. Let's go," she said.

* * *

While Corwin said that, Neera slowly approached the hole, the words Halatathlaer said: "Nepenthe" and "Fugue Plane" echoing in her mind.

"Wait. This is it? This is the portal to the Fugue Plane? But that's not a mountain- ohhh, it's a FOUNTAIN. That makes more sense. Not a lot more sense, but a bit," Neera said, realizing she misheard Adoy say "Fountain", thinking he said "Mountain".

"Ha! You see, Boo? I was right! The mountain was over there!" Minsc exclaimed proudly, pointing at the hole enthusiastically as if what he thought had finally been confirmed.

 _You didn't say anything about the mountain being here, Minsc,_ Jaheria remarked in her thoughts.

"I need to get closer, and then Adoy should be able to get out of my head and back into the real world. I think. Hopefully," Neera said, vaguely wondering whether she is wrong or not.

"Be careful, Neera," Ralis said, stepping carefully towards Neera as she carefully walked closer to the hole's edge.

Once the tip of her shoes touched the edge of the hole, she carefully peered in, and saw that the purple light eminating form the hole comes from a pitch white void 60 feet below. When Neera looked up ahead of her, she saw Adoy's spirit floating four feet ahead of her on thin air.

"Adoy! But you're... you're..." Neera felt a little overjoyed to see Adoy's portly form in front of her, but she expected to see his physical body, not his ghost. "Uh, I don't know how to say this, but you're... well... a spirit. You're a little bit dead. Actually, more than a little. "Completely" would be more accurate."

Adoy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, trying to remember what could have caused his death.

"Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, I do seem to remember dying. Bloody inconvenient. Couldn't have happened at a worse time..." He said casually.

Ralis couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe Adoy isn't traumatized at all by the memory of his death.

"So no matter what we did, we couldn't save you? And you knew? You spent weeks driving me insane for NO REASON AT ALL?!" Neera exploded in anger.

Ralis came up to Neera and placed both hands on her shoulders to calm her down.

"Do not be so quick to judge him, Neera. Let's hear him out," Ralis said.

"Really, Neera, you need to work on this anger of yours. It's very unbecoming," Adoy said while slowly shaking his head in shame at Neera while crossing his arms.

" _YOUR FACE IS UNBECOMING,_ " Neera shot back angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Adoy while Ralis tried to hold her back from falling into the hole by accident.

Adoy held his hands up at chest level in defense.

"Now now, there's no need for that! Hmph. Completely unnecessary," Adoy scowled disapprovingly at Neera briefly, then calmed down. "There was something I wanted to tell you... Ah, death does make the memory a little fuzzy. Ah yes! How I died. I was tortured to death by Red wizards.

Neera's anger completely disappeared, replaced by confusion.

"...What?" She asked softly.

"Run that by us again?" Ralis said.

"It was a little confusing at first, but I did glean some information whilst various internal organs were being ripped from my, uh, body," Adoy said.

"Oh, gods," Ralis, Corwin and Khalid groaned in unison.

"By the Three, that is terrible," Dynaheir bent over slightly as if she is about to throw up.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Neera said queasily, her face growing a bit more pale as she placed a hand on her stomach as if she is feeling the urge to vomit.

"Be careful, Neera," Adoy said, his voice low and serious. "Watch out for yourself and other wild mages. The Order of Eight Staves is coming."

"The what is coming?" Ralis asked after swallowing some bile that rose up from his stomach.

"The Order of Eight Staves, they call themselves. I think... I was mildly eviscerated at the time, which does rather tend to distract," Adoy said. "There's little I can tell you, but be wary. Ever vigilant. If you are attacked, strike back instantly and without mercy. Or flee. Whichever you think is best, you'll figure it out," he added.

"Sounds like I'm gonna have to," Neera said while rolling her eyes.

Adoy let his arms sag a bit as if he finally let go of heavy weights on his shoulders.

"Thank you, Neera, Ralis. Spending eternity in this place will be far less painful than where I was."

"If you ever get tired of Kanaglym, look us up," Ralis said.

Adoy shook his head. "There's no leaving here for me now- I'm bound to this place. You'll not see me again. Be safe, little wild one. Remember what I've told you. Do what you can to protect the others," he said.

"I will," Neera said with a nod.

Without uttering another word, Adoy's incorporeal body, like Halatathlaer before him, slowly transformed into vaporous mist, and descended down into the hole, disappearing into the whiteness.

"Well, that was... I don't know what that was," Neera said to Ralis, clearly unsure of what to say and think.

"Are you going to be all right, Neera?" Ralis asked her.

"I'm fine. It's the damned world that's the problem. On the upside, my head isn't splitting in two anymore. So there's that. But if Adoy is right, if the Red Wizards are really coming... I'd better get prepared."

Ralis nodded. "If you need to go.. I'll miss you, but I'll understand," he said, though deep down he didn't want to separate from Neera again even though they are not in a romantic relationship anymore.

Neera shook her head, smiling at him. "No. You saved me when we met in Beregost. You helped me meet Adoy. You saved me in Bridgefort. You helped me get Adoy out of my head. I'm not leaving you until Caelar's dealt with. Let's get going. We've got work to do."

Ralis nodded in agreement. "First things first, we need to make sure these fiends have written evidence that will prove to Rigah and Julann that the crusade are not what they appear to be. Proof that Hephernaan is acting against Caelar's goals is all the evidence they need," Ralis said, then he signaled his group to follow him.

"The sooner we get out of here, the better. I tire of seeing all of these stone structures," Viconia said to herself.

Ralis led his group past the hole and the giant dwarf statue, heading for the campsite that Kherriun and her mage allies made nearby in a wide open gap between two residential houses. The campfire is still aflame, and Ralis noticed a treasure chest close to the wall past the campfire and cluster of bedrolls.

"Gods, I wish I brought Safana now..." Ralis moaned, afraid that the treasure chest might be booby trapped.

He looked back at his companions, wondering if any of them can detect whether the treasure chest is protected by a trap or not.

"Does anyone have any thieving skills?" Ralis asked them.

No one replied, but Neera stepped forward.

"I'm no thief like Imoen and Safana, but I can try. I mean, I stole 200 gold coins from Meklin once. Only once. So how hard could it possibly be?" Neera asked and smiled, showing her teeth.

Ralis shook his head.

"Please, Neera, don't get yourself killed. Worst case scenario, that could be a mimic," he pleaded as Neera walked by him, heading for the treasure chest.

When Neera got inches close to it, she crouched down on her knees, rubbing her chin with her right hand and holding her staff in her left hand, her eyes focused on the keyhole.

"Hm... ah... uh-huh... interesting..." Neera went, nodding several times as she examined the chest's keyhole.

Ralis closed is eyes in fear of seeing Neera die. He thought he heard Neera whisper the word "Knock", then he unmistakably heard the audible click of the chest opening, but he didn't hear anything else for a second.

"Ralis! Open your eyes! I'm okay! The chest had no traps," Neera assured him.

Ralis opened his eyes and saw that Neera is truly unscathed.

"Thank the gods," Ralis sighed in relief. "You got lucky."

"Maybe I did," Neera said.

Ralis frowned in confusion. "What?"

"I didn't actually touch the chest. I opened it using a magic spell called "Knock". Actually, the spell didn't really open the chest, it removed the dangerous things hidden inside the chest as a trap. The trap probably was set off if the chest had one, but I didn't see what it was, and I wasn't hit by it because I was only 8 inches away from the chest," Neera admitted.

Ralis wanted to scold her for nearly giving him a heart attack, but he decided not to, and check the chest now that it is safe to get closer. He opened the chest and found something inside. A single piece of paper, detailing ritual notes written by Hephernaan himself. The purpose of the ritual Kherriun and her cohorts were possibly trying to perform is to create an army of undead. However, the ritual cannot be used as written in the note without certain artifacts that were destroyed in Hephernaan's previous attempt to work the spells, but the theoretical underpinning of the magic is proof enough that the spill will work if done right with the proper artifacts.

"This is going to shock Julann," Ralis said as he folded the paper and placed it in his pocket. "Let's get out of here and head back to Ladle's supply depot. I get the feeling the only way to Dragonspear Castle is through the fish folk he mentioned," he said.

They departed Kanaglym, and when they exited the city gates, they retraced their steps back through the underground forests. Along the way, the Stone Dowser continued vibrating in Ralis' bag until he decided to put it on around his neck, and the Stone Dowser acted like a special compass, pulling Ralis back towards where the Ladle's supply depot is.

* * *

Hours later, they returned, and Ladle was very eager to see them return alive.

"I don't believe it. You're back. You've been gone for so many hours I thought all of you were dead. Tell me, is there another route to Dragonspear Castle?" He asked.

"Afraid not," Ralis shook his head. "All we found is an abandoned dwarf city on the far end of the underground forest."

Ladle blinked twice. "An abandoned dwarven city, you say? Well, give me a beard and call me a dwarf! That's something you don't hear every day!" He said in awe, then he put his serious face back on. "Uh, back to the matter at hand, how are we going to get to Dragonspear Castle now that we know the cavern with the fish folk is the only way to get there?"

"Leave that to us," Ralis assured the gnome.

"Yeah! We'll take care of those pesky fish folk for you in no time!" Glint said, brimming with enthusiasm.

Ladle smiled. "I got a good feeling about the lot of you." He shrugged while still smiling. "All right, go ahead and knock yourselves out. I seriously doubt that a few fish folk are a match against fourteen well armed recruits like yourselves. Cross that bridge and go up those stairs. The door at the top of the stairs will take you to the caverns where the fish folk are.

"Got it. wish us luck," Ralis nodded, then he led his group towards the bridge and crossed it.

This recon mission is turning out very good so far. Ladle and his crew don't even suspect that they are not recruits, but adventurers helping the Flaming Fist, and Daggerford and Waterdeep militia to take down Caelar Argent's crusade. Then again, why should they suspect it? Even better, no one asked Ralis about the barrel Dorn is carrying, assuming it to be a barrel of mead or something like that. After crossing the bridge, the group were stopped by the crusader patrol guards who are stationed across the bridge to make sure the fish folk don't come to this part of the cavern and attack Ladle and his crew.

"Halt. What's your business here? We can't get through that cavern yet with the fish folk in it," The guard standing in front of Ralis and Corwin said to them.

"We're here to deal with your fish folk problem," Ralis said.

"Really? That's a relief," the other guard said. "Those damn sahuagin have been blockin' the way for tendays. Then again, we don't have to go on patrol as long as they're there." He shrugged. "I suppose it all works out," he added.

Ralis raised his left eyebrow. "That's a philosophical way to look at it," he said to the guard.

The guard nodded with a pleased smirk. "Guess so, when you put it like that," he said.

After that brief conversation, the guards allowed Ralis and his group to go up the wooden plank stairs. Twenty four feet up, the reached the door, and Ralis entered first, followed by Corwin, then Glint, Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid, Jaheira, Viconia, M'khiin, Baeloth, Neera, Dorn, Voghiln and Jovan.

After coming through the door, the group walked down a tunnel until they came to a "T" junction. The Stone Dowser around Ralis's neck pulled to the left, telling him that they should go left to find the perfect spot to place the barrel of bwoosh.

"That's interesting," Baeloth said, in amusement upon seeing the Stone Dowser pull to the left around Ralis' neck as if a magnet is pulling it in.

"Isn't it? I never wore anything like this before," Ralis said.

"We should move as quickly as possible, _abbil._ I dislike being underground," Viconia said to Ralis.

He looked at the hooded drow woman in surprise.

"I thought you liked the dark," he said.

"I do," Viconia nodded. "My faith lies now with Shar the Nightsinger. I find the dark... soothing. The shadows remind me of the sweet oblivion to come after death."

"You make it sound sort of... peaceful," Ralis said, not sure if he should be disturbed by her remark or not.

"To one who has spent so long running, hiding, scratching, and scraping to keep my body and soul alive, the quiet of eternal darkness after death seems very peaceful indeed."

Ralis remembered that when he first met her while investigating the Iron Throne's activities months ago, she claimed that she no longer serves Lolth, the Spider Queen. This woman is a mystery he wants to unravel. Why did she change faiths? Why did she move up here to the surface where very few drow are seen and welcomed?

"Why did you change faiths?" Ralis asked.

"That is a long story I do not feel like retelling. Suffice to say, the Spider Queen asked more of me than I could give. When I lost everything and found myself abandoned in the darkness, that is when i I heard Shar whisper to me," Viconia claimed.

Ralis doesn't know much about Lolth, but he knows that Lolth rules the chaotic society of the drow. if Viconia did something to anger the Spider Queen, then she will likely send some of her minions to kill Viconia someday. Though the thought of facing a minion of a evil goddess worried him a little, he had no intention of casting Viocnia out of the group simply because she is too great a liability.

"The Spider Queen may send her minions after us, but but we're strong enough to deal with any challenge," Ralis said with confidence.

Viocnia's eyes widened briefly in shock under her hood. It would make more sense for Ralis to cast her out of the group, but instead, he is willing to risk the safety of his group just to protect one drow? _His courage lacks sense and logic_ , Viconia noted, _but his courage is admirable, though_.

"I admire your bravery, Ralis. Yes, let us press on," Viconia said, trying to hide the surprise in her voice.

They walked down the winding passageway for what felt like three minutes until they came into an open room, the first checkpoint area where the crusaders take a break from carrying all the supplies to Dragonspear Castle. However, the fish folk Ladle mentioned occupied the checkpoint, overturning barrels, and tearing open bags for food, seven of them. These fish folk are called sahuagin.

They are fish-like monstrous humanoid creatures, usually green skinned, darker around the backs of their bodies, and lighter on the belly. Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds or more or less, they have webbed feet and hands, gills and a finned tail. They have more webbing down their back, at the elbows and where human ears would be on sahuagin heads. The sahuagin Ralis and his group saw matched that description, and they wore what looks like loincloths on their bodies. It didn't take the sahuagin in the room long to notice that intruders have arrived.

"This is our place now, crusader! Go back! Go back!" One of the sahuagin growled in guttural but understandable Common.

The sahuagin who spoke is named Gurgle, and though he didn't seem eager to immediately attack Ralis and his group, that doesn't mean he and his brethren won't attack them.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Ralis replied.

"You gotta!" Gurgle exclaimed, making hopping motions with his legs like he is excited. "You can't stay here! Go back now, you doughy gillslacker!"

Ralis shook his head. The last thing he wants is unnecessary violence.

"I don't want to fight. Is there nothing short of bloodshed that will convince you to let us pass?" He asked Gurgle and his brethren.

"WHAT?" Gurgle exclaimed, then he looked to his cohort next to him to his right and spoke to him in the sahuagin language. The sahuagin replied to Gurgle in an almost angry tone, then Gurgle turned his attention back to Ralis. "No no, all of you go back, back like all the others. You go back or we kill you, yes, that's what we'll do," he said to Ralis.

Ralis refused to give up to the creature's demands.

"Surely we can find some middle ground here- some place that won't see one of us horribly slaughter the seven of you," he said.

All seven sahuagin calmed down. It seems all seven of them understand Common, fortunately.

"Huh?" The one named Floss tilted his head in a quizzical manner, his jaw slack, showing his serrated teeth.

Gurgle slapped Floss across his head.

" _Quiet, Floss! The human wants to bargain. But what does it have we want?_ " Gurgle asked Floss in their native language so Ralis and his group won't understand what they're saying.

"I know!" Floss exclaimed in Common, then turned his attention to Ralis. "Tell us a story, human. Tell us a story and we'll let you pass."

Gurgle slapped Floss again, his webbed hand making a wet _splat_ noise when it came into contact with the back of Floss's head.

" _Shut up, Floss! Don't tell it what we want,_ " Gurgle berated him in their native language again while Floss was rubbing the back of his head, giving Gurgle a dejected look.

" _Why not?_ " Floss replied still in the sahuagin tongue.

" _I said shut up,_ " Gurgle ordered, then he spoke to Ralis. "Now you, human- you were going to tell us a story."

Ralis nodded, then sat down a boulder that is near the illumination of a torch close by.

"All right then," he said then took a deep breath, racking his brain for a good story to tell.

None came to mind but his own. Then he got the idea of telling the sahuagin a slightly exaggerated story about himself.

"Once upon a time, there were two children. Half-siblings, born to the same father," Ralis began.

"Sahuagin half-siblings," Floss interjected with a toothy grin.

"No, not sahuagin half-siblings. Who's telling the story here?" Ralis corrected him while giving him a slightly annoyed frown.

"You are. But I don't like it much," Gurgle crossed his arms while the rest of his brethren except Floss sat down.

"Look, do you want me to tell you the tale of the Bhaalspawn or not?" Ralis asked Gurgle.

"What is he...?" Corwin whispered to Jovan.

"No clue," he whispered back.

"He's telling them a story about himself," Viconia whispered to Baeloth, and he smiled, stroking his chin.

"Interesting selection of tales to tell," he said.

Gurgle didn't reply to Ralis, but Floss did.

"We want to hear it, we want to hear it," he said, speaking for his brethren. "Tell us the tale of the half-kin."

Ralis nodded in compliance and resumed the story.

"Their father was a very evil man- not a man, even, but a god,"

That piqued Gurgle's interest, his eyes widened momentarily, and the sahuagin behind him went "Oooh!"

"Ooo, a god, that is interesting. Go on, go on," Gurgle urged.

"One of the brothers grew to be an evil man, like their father," Ralis went on.

"He was a god?" Gurgle asked.

"No," Ralis shook his head, then shifted on the boulder to get himself comfortable because the hard surface is making his buttocks ache. "No, but he aspired to be one. And to do so, he plotted and schemed and manipulated the world from the shadows."

"Eep!" Floss yelped fearfully. "Did he... did he succeed?"

"He almost did. It was only his heroic half-brother who stopped him," Ralis clarified.

Floss flinched, expecting Gurgle to slap him again, but he didn't, he only glared at him.

" _Shut up, Floss! You're mucking up the story,_ " he said in the sahuagin tongue angrily, then he turned his attention back to Ralis. "Go on, tell us more," he said.

Ralis cleared his throat before continuing. "The half-brothers fought a great battle. The earth trembled beneath their feet and the sky wept for fear of the power on display," Ralis said, the tone of his voice malicious to prove his point that the battle between the half-brothers was both amazing and horrifying at the same time. "For days they fought, or so it seemed. And finally, one fell," Ralis said.

"Which one? WHICH ONE?!" Gurgle exclaimed excitedly.

Ralis began to grin. "I'll give you a hint: The one who fell is the one who is not here to kill you today," he said.

Floss looked confused now, but not Gurgle and the other sahuagin, they understood the hint, the terrified looks on their faces showed it.

"Uhhh... What?" Floss tilted his head.

" _Run! Run!_ " Gurgle exclaimed, and they ran off down the the northern tunnel, one of the four passageways out of this room.

Ralis stood up off the boulder, smiling.

"Why do I get the feeling you enjoyed that, Ralis?" Jaheira asked him with a smirk.

"Everyone loves a good plot twist, don't they?" Ralis asked Jaheira with a smile.

When Ralis and his group were trying to figure out which passageway to follow, the one to the north where the sahuagin retreated, the one northwest, the one directly west, or the way they came in. When Ralis walked near the western passageway, the Stone Dowser reacted, trying to pull him in that direction.

"I guess we go this way," Ralis informed his companions, looking back at them over his left shoulder. When they started following him, he took the lead with Corwin by his side.

* * *

The passageway twisted and turned four what felt like five hours. There is no light of any kind in these parts, so Neera had to cast cast the Light spell on her staff, to make it shine bright to provide light for them, and she had to walk alongside Ralis and Corwin so they can see what is ahead of them.

"Chill, creepy caverns always appeal to my aesthetics," Baeloth said cheerfully.

"I'm not surprised," Dynaheir said.

A few steps later, Corwin spoke up.

"We need to talk, Ralis," she said.

"What's on your mind?" Ralis asked as they came around a curve.

"I'm not happy with the way we- with the way _I_ left things when we were talking about children. Rohma." corwin then shook her head as if she has a headache. "Damn it, why is this so hard?"

Ralis wished he understood what Corwin is feeling, he has never had heavy responsibilities like raising a child before. All he knew is Shael used to be as wild and energetic as Skie is, but becoming a mother changed her personality and outlook on life.

"The important things are never easy," Ralis said as they walked down a narrow path, entering a part of the cavern where the walls are not so close together, and there are stalactites and stalagmites everywhere, and the sound of dripping water is all they could hear in this place.

"Aye, you're right about that. All right, here it is..." Corwin began. "I don't think it's any great secret that I've found myself attracted to you these past few months. I'm attracted to a lot of people. Attraction is easy enough to deal with. Feelings are another story."

Ralis nodded. "Some romantic relationships have happy endings, never forget that," Ralis said.

Now the group found a part of the trail that continues forward and branches left and right. As if on cue, the Stone Dowser around Ralis neck pulled towards the trail branching left, so they went that way, and they found themselves walking around an underground lake.

"The life we lead pushes us to places we may not want to go- not yet. I've made mistakes before- too many mistakes. I'm trying to make better choices, not just for me, but for Rohma. The last person I shared my bed with... It didn't turn out well with her. Not as bad as with Rohma's father, but not well."

Ralis couldn't remember the woman's name, but back before they went to Bridgefort many months ago, when Corwin first admitted that she is attracted to him, she mentioned that she is afraid to act on her feelings because of some woman she used to be with. Tina or whatever her name was. Beno and Tianna weren't the perfect romance companions for Shael. Ralis believed that he might be the right one, since Neera isn't the right one for him. When Ralis looked at Corwin, his eyes met hers.

"If I'm to do this again, I need it to work. I need to think, not just feel. I can't rush into another doomed relationship. And it felt like that's what I was about to do. That's why I shut you out when we were talking about children. Because I can't afford to let you in- let anybody in. Not until I know they're the right one."

Ralis reached out with his right hand and gently closed his fingers around Corwin's left hand.

"I don't know how it feels, raising a child, but I do know how it feels getting your heart broken- all too well," Ralis glanced over at Neera, but she didn't seem to notice. "I'd like you to be more than a friend, Corwin- but if that's all I'm ever to call you, I'll count myself blessed. Let's see where this relationship goes together," he said sympathetically.

Thanks to the light from Neera's bright staff, he clearly saw Corwin smile at him in relief.

"Thank you, Ralis. Thank you for understanding," she said.

Several hours later of being guided by the Stone Dowser, Ralis and his group found the very same river that separates the side of the cavern they are in to the other side of the cavern where the vegetation grows and dark treants and evil dryads and myconids lurk. Fotunately the trail was not a dead end, they just found themselves walking near the area where the hooded man stood speaking to Ralis before they discovered Kanaglym. Several yards up ahead, they saw a middle aged human man, a mage wearing a crusader uniform casting a domination spell on three water elementals that appear standing at the edge of the river in the liquid form of muscular human men, sporting thick muscular arms and legs, standing seven feet and three inches tall.

"Enjoy your freedom while it lasts. Soon you'll be mine!" The mage named Strunk said excitedly as he continued waving his arms in the process of making the domination spell over them permanent.

When Strunk noticed the illumination of Neera's staff growing brighter and he heard footsteps coming his way, he turned around and saw Ralis and his party coming his way. When Ralis glanced at the water elementals, he couldn't help but briefly admire how beautifully the light from Neera's illuminated staff reflected on the liquid bodies of the water elementals.

"Forgive me if I lack the time for conversation, fellow crusader. I'm in the middle of a delicate ritual," Strunk said politely.

"I gather you're an arcanist of some sort. What manner of ritual is this?" Ralis asked the man.

"I'm binding water elementals from this river. Creatures of pure water that will serve me as I do Caelar's work on the battlefield. With their power, the crusade's success is assured," Strunk replied proudly.

Ralis did his best to keep his facial expression neutral. This is bad. If he turns a blind eye on this mage and this ritual, the water elementals he will send to fight against the Flaming Fist, Daggerford and Waterdeep armies will likely turn the tide when the armies are ready to take the fight to the crusade at Dragonspear Castle.

"They will do your bidding? Willingly or unwillingly?" Ralis questioned the mage.

Strunk shrugged indifferently. "Willing, unwilling, what does it matter? Better these creatures die than Caelar's worthy servants."

"The needs of the Lady outweigh the needs of the few," Ralis said.

"They are lesser creatures, with nothing to offer but their strength. If I can bind them, why not use strength for the greater good?" Strunk replied.

Ralis bristled a little when the mage called the water elementals "lesser creatures". If they really are lesser creatures, why does the crusade need them? He remembered this one time when he was three years old, when Gorion told him about the atrocities of slavery one night before sending him to bed. Back then, Gorion told him back then that though slavery is frowned upon in some parts of Faerun, that doesn't stop people from practicing it.

 _"Father, why do people enslave other people? I do not understand,"_ Young Ralis asked Gorion after jumping into his bed and placing his body under the bed sheets as Gorion stood over him.

Gorion chuckled. " _Ah, my child, it surprises and makes me happy to hear you ask a question like that. It gives me hope,_ " he said.

Ralis frowned quizzically. " _Why, Father?_ "

Gorion pulled up a chair and sat next next to the bed.

" _Never mind that, child. As for your question, the reason why slavery still exists though many people fight against it is because those that enslave and oppress need the strengths of those they consider lesser to survive."_

 _"Why not ask for help?"_ Young Ralis asked his father.

" _Because those that retain the ability to make their own decisions can possibly refuse to help those who need them. Taking away someone's freedoms is a cruel thing, that cannot be disputed, but there are people who in these lands that are more than willing to rob a person or creature's freedom to use their strengths to their advantage, whatever their agenda may be."_

 _"It sounds like slavers are no different from bullies, relying on someone else's power but not their own,"_ Young Ralis said with a disgusted frown.

Gorion laughed heartily. " _How very perceptive of you, my child. I have never compared a slaver to a bully before. It amazes me that you see the similarity,"_ he said in admiration.

After having that brief flashback, Ralis understood why Gorion was so pleased that he asked why slavers still exist in Faerun. It was the first question that shaped Ralis' moral beliefs, and it gave Gorion hope that Ralis can potentially resist the natural instinct to murder as a Bhaalspawn. Before that time, Ralis used to be an independent and wild boy, doing whatever he pleased. But eventually a few years later he became thoughtful and idealistic with strong humanitarian beliefs. Which is why he felt brewing anger towards the mage for enslaving water elementals and claiming it is for the greater good. There is no greater good in oppressing the will of another person or creature.

"IF you can bind them," Ralis challenged the mage. "But can you do that if I were to poke you?" Ralis poked at his chest, and the mage gasped in surprise, and he became even more surprised when he realized that Ralis is not done with him. "What then? Eh? Does this bother you? Do you not like being poked?" Ralis poked the mage four more times, feeling his anger reaching a boiling point.

The mage slapped Ralis' hand away before he could get poked for the sixth time.

"Do you want to die? You're endangering us all with this foolishness!" The mage said.

Ralis clasped his hand behind his back, then slowly reached for his two sided dagger he named "Avenger" out of Strunk's view.

"I'm fine with endangering you, given that I'm not really a crusader. Here, let me endanger you some more," Ralis said.

Before Strunk could say or do anything, Ralis lunged at him and stabbed his dagger into Strunk's stomach. The mage gasped in shock and horror, and Ralis didn't stop with a single stab. He stabbed Strunk in the chest three times before he sagged to the ground, his crusader robes soaked with blood, and he collapsed dead.

With Strunk no longer alive, the three water elementals are now free from his control. They nodded in gratitude at Ralis and stepped into the river. Then their liquid bodies melted into the river, becoming one with it. Seconds after the water elementals departed, a new creature rose up from the shallow river. to Ralis, the creature looked like an elf woman with skin and hair as pristine and clear as the water she is standing in. This creature is known as a nereid. Nereids are fey creatures like elves, but they live in water. They are related to tritons, a race of humanoid people from the elemental Plane of Water.

Dynaheir gasped in shock. "By the Three! A nereid!"

The reason why Dynaheir knew of these creatures is because in Rashemen, Lake Ashane is a haven for nereids, and Dynaheir always liked nereids ever since she was a little girl.

"What is this?" The nereid asked Ralis, speaking in Common fluently but with a slight accent. "I come to rescue my elemental companions and I find them already freed."

"Yes, thanks to me they are, Ralis, freer of enslaved elementals at your service," Ralis said proudly and bowed respectfully at the nereid.

"Ha! The fleshling likes itself," the nereid laughed at Ralis, apparently not fully understanding his humor. "Your deed merits reward," she said.

She glided across the river's gentle current until she reached the edge, then gave Ralis a navy blue colored stone.

"This may look like an ordinary stone, but its powers are great. With it you can remove any taint or impurity from water, no matter how befouled," the nereid explained.

"A great treasure indeed. Thank you," Ralis said with a polite nod, placing the stone in the bag attached to his belt.

"Farewell. Know that you have a friend among the water folk, always," the nereid said before melting into the river like the elementals before her.

Now that Strunk and the threat of his water elemental army is no more, Ralis and his party continued following the trail, guided by the Stone Dowser.

"I cannot believe that I got the rare opportunity to see a nereid...!" Dynaheir said happily.

"Ho ho! Adventuring with friend Ralis brought unexpected surprises, hasn't it, oh beauteous one?" Voghiln asked.

"Yes, it has, and I am grateful for it," Dynaheir said.

* * *

Soon the trail took them away from the river for the next twenty minutes, then the trail started to ascend up a slope at one point, then the trail took them back to the river. The Stone Dowser urged Ralis to go towards the river, and cross it by stepping over the cluster of large stones in the river. So they cross the river, and once they reach the other side, Ralis took fifteen steps forward and the dowser suddenly starts spinning on its chain, it neither pulled left nor right.

"Well?" M'khiin wanted to know what happened.

Ralis turned around. "I think this is the spot where we are supposed to leave Phossey's barrel of bwoosh here," he said.

As Dorn stepped forward with the barrel, Ralis knelt down on his knees and touched the ground with his bare hands. The rocks feel solid enough, nothing about this area indicates any weakness the explosive barrel can destroy, but when Ralis looked up at the shadowy roof of the cavern after noticing the shadows of the stalactites up above in this part of the cavern have a previously unnoticed air of menace to them.

"Place the barrel- quickly," Corwin instructed Dorn.

Dorn set the barrel down carefully, grunting softly.

"Is anyone else surprised the barrel didn't actually explode on the way here? No? That's just me?" Glint asked.

"It's just you," Jovan confirmed.

"It was thee and thee alone. Our allies do not want to risk our lives," Dynaheir said.

"Finally," Dorn said brushing his hands together. "Now let's get out of here and blow Caelar Argent to the Abyss where she belongs."

"All in good time, Dorn. But first we need to figure out what Hephernaan is up to. Based on what we recently learned, there is evidence that he might have his own agenda. If he does, I want to see what it could be so that I can report back to Nederlok and the others about it," Ralis said.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go," Viconia urged the group.

They headed directly north from the place where they left Phossey's barrel of bwoosh, and up ahead they saw a fireplace, and three crusaders sitting near it, trying to keep warm. And further uop ahead 20 yards away, there stood the doors that possibly lead to the basement of Dragonspear Castle. But unfortunately two sentries guard the door, one human, one halfling and one dwarf. The dwarf is called Turin Brassbreaker, a bearded dwarf woman, her beard is red colored, and she wore a helmet. She eyeballed Ralis and his group suspiciously as they approached.

"Halt! Identify yourself!" Turin exclaimed as soon as Ralis and his group got six feet close.

"I come on urgent crusade business. See here, I have Caelar's crest," Ralis showed her he crest.

"And a lovely little crest it is," Turin said sarcastically. "But you still haven't identified yourself."

"We are just loyal mercenaries doing our job," Ralis said.

Turin's scowl grew sharper. "Return to your post, mercenary. Only those who truly walk in the light are allowed through here. And you aren't one of them."

Ralis grunted in frustration. "Listen, lady. In case you haven't noticed, for the past few weeks, you have not received any new supplies from Ladle. Know why? Because the caverns back there used to have a sahuagin problem. But thanks to me and my mercenaries, we cleared them out. So the least you can do is reward us by letting us enter," he urged.

Turin thought it over for a minute, then finally reached a decision.

"All right, fine, the lot of you may enter," Turin said, then she and her fellow sentries stepped aside, allowing Ralis and his group to part the doors and enter.

* * *

The room Ralis and his party found themselves in is not what they expected at all. This place is FILLED with crusaders and hired mercenaries of various humanoid races! Possibly over 200! The room is huge, and lit by torch lamps all over the place, and there are boxes and crates littered everywhere they looked. There are four 30 foot tall elevated platforms the room that can only be scaled by walking up the stairs. Ralis and his party couldn't see what is on the topmost floor in this room, but up on the ceiling 200 feet above them, they saw a hole in the ceiling, and a rope that extends down to one of the upper levels of this room, which means there is an elevator here, and they must go up that elevator to get into the cellar of Dragonspear Castle.

On the ground level they are on now, to their left, there is an archery gallery, where dozens of crusaders and mercenaries shoot arrows or crossbow bolts at archery targets, and on the opposite end, there are empty cages. Ralis and his party weaved their way past the crowds of crusaders and mercenaries, heading towards one of the stairways and made their way up to the first elevated ground. In this part, the crusaders and mercenaries dine and sit at the campfire in the center of this level, telling jokes or playing card or board games. Seeing nothing of interest, they climbed up the next flight of stairs, going up to the second level. Again, nothing of interest there, so they ascended up another flight of stairs to go up to the third level. From her,e Ralis could catch a small glimpse of large bed curtains that are brown in color on the top floor, which means Caelar Argent's bed must be up there. But down here on the third level, Ralis saw what he is looking for. The elevator that will take them up to Dragonspear Castle's basement/wine cellar. The problem is, there are two muscular ogres standing near the elevator, and the rope attached to the big wheel with a lever next to them suggests that those two ogres are the only ones who can operate the elevator, bringing it up and down, which will complicate things.

"There is or only ticket up. Now what?" Corwin asked Ralis.

"Don't worry, I'm working on it," he assured her.

While they were trying to come up with a strategy, Glint spotted someone familiar. He saw a gnome woman clse by serving drinks to three men, the identity of their race hard to see because they wear helmets. She has navy blue hair and brown eyes.

"Rhonda? Is it really you?" Glint called to her.

Upon hearing her name, Rhonda glanced over at Glint's direction and saw him.

"What are you doing down here?" He asked her.

Rhonda approached now.

"Glint? Did the crusade catch you too?" She asked him, grabbing the attention of Ralis and the rest of his party decided to act casual, talk to one another so that the mercenaries and crusaders here don't get suspicious.

"No, I'm with my friend here- Ralis, this is my cousin Rhonda Swiftfootsdottir. Rhonda, Ralis- we're working against the crusade. Well, he is. I'm mostly just along for the ride," Glint replied.

Though Rhonda is somewhat happy to see Glint, she is not happy that he is here.

"You've got to get out of here, Glint," Rhonda said through gritted teeth.

"Can't do it. Not until our mission is complete," Ralis said to Rhonda, keeping his voice low.

"What are you planning?" Rhonda asked.

"That depends on whether we can get past those ogres and up to Dragonspear," Glint said, pointing over at the ogres near the elevator platform briefly.

"Ogres? You mean Einer and Betror?" Rhonda replied.

"You know those two ogres?" Ralis asked in disbelief.

"Yep, I sure do. You want to go up into Dragonspear? Let me talk to them. I'll get you up there," Rhonda promised.

"Now that's a plan. Let's go," Corwin said.

As the group followed Rhonda towards the elevator and the two ogres, they heard the two ogres speaking to each other among the loud clamor of mercenaries around them.

"I say we rest more, then we work harder. Rest make better work," Einer said to his partner.

"How that possible? Rest more mean less time for work," Betror argued.

"Happy worker is more produ... produck..." Einer tried to say the word "productive", but his limited intellect as an ogre made it hard for him to remember how to say a word that isn't simple for an ogre to memorize. "... Happy worker is happier. Happier better, Betror," he said.

"Me happier not being beaten, so no more resting talk! Got it?" Betror argued back.

At that moment they spotted Rhonda approaching them while Ralis and his party hung back a few feet away.

"A happy worker's a more productive worker, Betror. That's a fact. I can prove it with numbers," Rhonda said.

Einer smiled triumphantly, and Betror smiled because he is happy to see a friend.

"Rhonda! Good to see ya," Betror said.

He wanted to hug her, but he knew he shouldn't, for obvious reasons.

"I was wondering if you could do me a little favor. My cousin and his friends here needs to get up to the basement," Rhonda said, pointing over at them.

Einer nodded without hesitation.

"Sure, no problem. Have him 'n his friends hop on," he said.

"Belben say no takin' people up without permission," Betror reminded Einer.

Einer waved a hand at Betror dismissively.

"Aw, Belben say a lot of things. Get on board, best we get you up quick."

Glint, Ralis and the rest of the party stepped on the large wooden plank held by ropes on all four sides.

"You have my thanks, ogres. And you, Rhonda. Stay safe," Glint said, his right hand gripping one of the ropes.

"I will, Glint. You just make sure you do the same," Rhonda nodded.

After she said that, Einer walked over to the wheel, grabbed the lever and started cranking the wheel clockwise, causing the wheel to pull in the rope's slack, elevating the platform high up towards the hole in the ceiling. Glint and Neera had to fight the urge not to look down, because seeing the entire room from the point of view of a bird made them a little queasy.

* * *

After two minutes of being raised up to the basement/wine cellar of Dragonspear Castle, the elevator platform finally made it through the hole and Ralis and his party stepped out, and entered the next room ahead... where they encountered Belben and six other crusader knights. Belben is a half-orc woman, clad in standard issue full plate mail crusader body armor, and her hair is neck length.

"What's the meaning of this? I didn't requisition any more supplies, and you're not one of Hephernaan's blackhoods. Explain yourselves," she demanded.

"I'm permitted to be here. See, I have Caelar's seal," Ralis showed her the seal.

"We've all got seals, idiot!" Belben exclaimed in annoyance. "What are you DOING up here?"

"I must speak with the Shining Lady on a matter of utmost importance," Ralis replied, though he knew Belben won't buy it, he just hoped Viconia, Baeloth and Glint have their pieces of iron ready as the material component to cast Hold Person on Belben and her knights.

"Utmost importance, you say? We'll see about that. Take them!" Belben drew her sword!

At that split second, Glint, Viconia and Baeloth began chanting the words needed to cast Hold Person while moving their hands the way they should for the spell to work. Belben's blades and Ralis' blades met, and Minsc, Voghiln, Jovan, Dorn, Corwin Khalid and Jaheira engaged Belben's knights to buy time for their spellcasters to finish their spell. In a matter of seconds, the Hold Person spell Glint, Viconia and Baeloth cast simultaneously froze Belben and her knights like statues, allowing Ralis and his party to end their lives without making too much noise.

"Another crusader eats floor, courtesy of the Luskan Lion, ho ho!" Voghiln chortled after feeling a crusader knight.

"And that is why the wise man talks to heavily armed strangers. Attacking them, usually it does not end so well," Minsc said after wiping the blood of his broadsword's blade.

"Let's go. We need to find out what we can about Caelar and Hephernaan before every crusader in Dragonspear is breathing down our necks," Corwin said.

"She's right, there's no time to waste," Jovan said, also wiping the blood of Aihonen's blade.

"Let's move," Ralis said. He led his party into the next room ahead, but it turned out to be the room where the crusaders' water supply and food are kept. Had he agreed to Cedric deLancie's plan to poison the crusaders, this would be the place to use the poison. Seeing no way forward, they retraced their steps back towards the previous room and headed for the barred gates, moving further up the rectangular room. The next gates up ahead past the pillar that has a crate coated with a luminescent gooey purple substance next to it are guarded by clay golems, but Ralis could clearly see past the next gates are the stairs that lead up to the main floor of Dragonspear Castle, and that is not where they want to go. To the left from the inactive clay golems, there is an open door.

"I guess we go that way," Ralis whispered.

flanked by Jovan, he and the elf entered the passageway first. St the other end of the hallway up ahead, Ralis, Jovan, Minsc and the others saw a stone door, and on both doors, there are two snakes facing each other as if they are kissing.

"Look at those doors, Boo!" Minsc whispered to his hamster. "The two serpents kiss, and their bodies make a heart. Isn't that nice? There is someone for everyone."

"Minsc... I don't think those serpents are in love," Corwin whispered ominously, holding her bow and arrow ready.

Ralis and Jovan noticed an open door to their left close by. They approached the edge of the door and carefully peered in. In the next room Ralis and Jovan saw Hephernaan and two other people, Esserin and Olvenaun, two male half-elf mages behind him standing at an altar, standing on a white carpet rug with the symbol of Caelar's crusade. On the altar is the swirling arcane energies of a lesser portal, meant to communicate with someone from another plane, it is far too small for anyone to step through it to enter another plane of existence. Whoever Hephernaan is speaking to through that portal, it is someone not in the Prime Material Plane, possibly Avernus.

"... just need a little more patience, master," Hephernaan said reassuringly to whoever is on the other end of the communication portal.

"MORE patience, Hephernaan? I have waited decades for this moment and will wait no longer still before I am free to return to the Prime," a voice on the other end of the portal said in annoyance.

Ralis thought he heard Jovan whisper "Huh?" And he glanced over at the elf and saw a puzzled and troubled frown on his face.

"And when you do, all will have been made ready for your arrival. Those who still live will be baptized in the blood of those sacrificed in your name. A million souls will hold their arms up and scream your name, ready to embrace their new lord and master," Hephernaan said pridefully with a disturbing, malevolent grin.

"Your words paint a pretty picture, Hephernaan, but your failures tell a different tale," Hephernaan's master said skeptically.

" _Is that...? No, it can't be..._ " Ralis heard Jovan whisper fearfully again, and he had a gut feeling that the elf might have some idea of who Hephernaan is speaking to.

"The child of Bhaal is near, master. Soon he will be ours. The portal to Avernus shall be opened once again," Hephernaan assured his master.

Ralis' eyes widened in fear. This is much worse than he imagined. Hephernaan not only has a darker, blatantly evil motive, he also has a master that Caelar Argent probably isn't aware of. Caelar's plan all along was never to kill him, but to provoke him to get him out of Baldur's Gate with the Flaming Fist armies because she needs him to open the portal to Avernus under the false pretense of saving the souls of the people who died in the Dragonspear Wars. However, the truth that Ralis doesn't clearly know yet is that Hephernaan never was loyal to Caelar Argent, she is a puppet in this evil grand scheme. But what Ralis does clearly know now is Hephernaan's goal is to open the portal to Avernus so that his master and all the demons of the Nine Hells can pour out and terrorize and ravage the Sword Coast, Faerun, and all of Toril, creating a third Dragonspear War, which will be FAR worse than the previous two! The consequences of Hephernaan's schemes coming to fruition made Ralis realize that he made a terrible mistake choosing to get involved in this fight against Caelar.

 _Imoen was right, I should have listened to her... I should have never gotten involved in this..._ Ralis thought in sadness.

"Wait- someone is here. *gasp* You are not alone," Hephernaan's master said, causing Ralis and Jovan's hearts to jump in surprise.

Realizing they have been discovered, Ralis, Jovan and the others entered Hephernaan's chambers, surprising him and his two partners.

"That's impossible. Mercenaries are not allowed in the castle, and no crusader would dare trespass in my personal chambers," Hephernaan said in disbelief at what he is seeing.

"Hm, no crusader, and no mercenary, either. The Bhaalspawn is within reach at last. Bring me his blood!" Hephernaan's master commanded before the communication portal closed up.

"You heard the master. Get him now!" Hephernaan ordered his partners, then he cast the spell Sanctuary on himself, using a small silver mirror as the spell's material component, and a shield of magical light shone around him.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Esserin and Olvenaun were easily killed by Ralis and his party, and quickly Ralis turned his attention towards Hephernaan standing idle and calm as if nothing can harm him. Yelling in rage, Ralis slashed at Hephernaan with Albruin and Severance in quick succession, but Sanctuary's magical shield deflected the sword blades no matter where he struck Hephernaan. As long as Hephernaan does not take any offensive action against Ralis, he cannot be harmed.

"You're in the belly of the beast, Ralis- there is no escape! I shall return with reinforcements to finish this once and for all."

After he said that, he escaped by opening a Dimensional Portal and stepped in, leaving Ralis and his party alone in Hephernaan's chambers. They knew that they are up to their eyeballs in a pit of kobold turds now. They must find a way to escape and fast, before all 900 crusaders in Dragonspear Castle is made aware of their presence!


	17. Chapter 17 Bargain and War part 1

"Hey, uh, are you sure we shouldn't be, how shall I put this, GETTING THE HELLS OUT OF HERE NOW?" Glint exclaimed.

"Yes! Let's go!" Ralis exclaimed, then began to bolt towards the door.

Jovan and Khalid were the first two people out of Hephernaan's chambers, with Ralis coming out third, and just when Khalid and Jovan were beginning to sprint down the hallway the opposite end away from the big stone door with the snakes engraved on it, they skidded to a complete stop when they noticed two clay golems blocking the end of the hallway!

"Oh damn!" Ralis cursed as Jaheira, Viconia and the others stopped behind him and noticed the clay golems.

And to make matters worse, five crusaders appeared from behind the clay golems, two armed with crossbows, two with a sword and shield, and another with two javelins in each hand!

"Back into the room! Now!" Jovan shouted.

"Halt!" The crusader armed with two javelins shouted.

Ralis and his party ran back into Hephernaan's chambers as the crusaders moved in attacking, with the clay golems lumbering close behind them. The crusaders armed with crossbows opened fire, but their quarrels missed their marks, and the crusader with the javelins threw the javelin in his left arm at Khalid, but fortunately Khalid held his shield up as he backed his way into the room with everyone else, the javelin bounced off the upper part of the shield. Then the crusader threw his second javelin at Jovan after Ralis, Khalid and Glint disappeared back into the room, and the javelin whizzed past Jovan's head to the right. Corwin emerged from the room's open doorway to give Jovan covering fire, shooting an arrow at one of the crossbow toting crusaders, but her arrow would never have missed if the crusader she was aiming for hadn't dodged it, then she and Jovan withdrew back into the room and shut the door, lowering the thick wooden plank down on the barricade hooks attached to the door to prevent the crusaders and clay golems from getting in, but the problem is, Ralis and his party are trapped with no way out.

"We need to get out of this place and fast!" Corwin exclaimed.

"But we blocked the only way out of this room, Corwin!" Neera exclaimed.

" _Oh stlarn, oh stlarn, oh stlarn!_ This is bad!" Ralis exclaimed.

"We are living on borrowed time, fools! We must find an escape route, NOW!" Viconia said urgently.

"She's right! If we don't get out of here soon, every crusader in Dragonspear will come snapping at our heels any minute!" Jaheira said.

Ralis tried not to panic, but they are in a tight spot here, trapped in this room with the apparent looming danger of every crusader in Dragonspear Castle being alerted to their presence thanks to Hephernaan. Escape seems very unlikely. Then a longshot idea came to him. This castle must have secret passages. Every castle has secret passages, even Candlekeep. If it does, there must be a secret passageway out of this room somewhere. Question is, where could it possibly be?

"Everyone, look for a hidden switch that could open a secret passageway out of this room! I know the chances are slim, but there must be one here!" Ralis exclaimed, and everyone got to work, searching for the hidden switch, turning over anything that can be moved.

Ralis took notice of a treasure chest Minsc picked up and placed near the doorway and had a hunch that something might be useful in some way could be inside it, or at least an item that would help prove to Julann that Hephernaan is not what he seems. He didn't ask Neera to use the knock spell on the chest to make sure it isn't booby trapped, she is busy with everyone else finding heavy, yet movable objects to reinforce the barricaded door, so he opened the treasure chest at the risk of being harmed by a trap after Minsc moved away, but unfortunately the chest had a trap. As soon as Ralis opened it, a device triggered by a string being pulled when the chest's lid opens fired a poisonous dart at Ralis' face. Reacting instinctively to the clicking noise of the trap being activated, Ralis shielded his face with both arms a fraction of a second before the dart was fired. Instead of the dart's poisonous needle embedding itself into his forehead, it embedded itself into the wrist of his left arm. Ralis grunted in pain and quickly pulled the dart out, but the poison in his body was quickly destroyed thanks to the magical effect of one of his magically enhanced hand-and-a-half swords, Albruin. As long as Ralis has Albruin in his possession, he cannot get poisoned. He peered into the chest after dropping the dart, and he found a book and a crown. Ralis took the book out of the chest and moved away from the barricaded door, reading what is written in the book.

The book details the creation of magical items for the purpose of capturing and controlling a creature's spirit. The book explains that there are many spells that can pull a target's soul out of its body, or remains, and Magic jar is one of those spells, it can trap a creature's spirit in the jar until it can inhabit a new vessel. Until then, the individual who holds the Magic jar has power over the soul within, meaning the soul has no choice but to obey its captor until the item breaks or the soul is released by its "owner". Ralis recalled that this is what happened between Kherriun and Halatathlaer. Under the instructions of this book provided to her by Hephernaan, Kherriun captured and controlled Halatathlaer's ghost and commanded her to guard the gates of Kanaglym to make sure the rituals to sacrifice innocent men to Hephernaan's master proceed undisturbed. All this would mean that Caelar does indeed have evil motives, but Halatathlaer claimed that she has never seen Caelar before, so it is possible that Caelar does not know of Hephernaan's activities, and the activities of the people that are loyal to him.

"Ralis! Put down that book and help us! You too, Jovan, come on!" Jaheira exclaimed, startling Ralis into dropping the book.

Before Ralis started to join in on barricading the door, he noticed that Jovan is doing nothing. He is just standing there on the white carpet rug next to Esserin's corpse looking terrified as if he just got petrified with fear from seeing a ghost. Ralis noticed this and became concerned.

"Jovan, what are you doing standing here? Help us find a way out of here before those golems break that door down!" Ralis exclaimed.

As if on cue, the golems on the other side of the barricaded door started punching the door, trying to get inside. The banging noises startled everyone for a second, but Jovan never flinched, it is almost as if his mind is focused on something else.

" _He's coming... he's coming..._ " The elf muttered fearfully, staring directly at the altar which still has the lesser portal activated.

"Huh?" Ralis tilted his head in confusion as he slowly approached Jovan, stepping over Olvenaun's body to get to him. "Who is coming?" He asked again as he stepped directly in front of the elf.

Jovan didn't reply, he couldn't even look Ralis straight into his eyes.

"Jovan, do you know who Hephernaan was speaking to a minute ago?" Ralis asked again.

Jovan still didn't reply, looking terrified.

"Jovan, answer me!" Ralis snapped.

"He's coming, Ralis! Do you understand how terrible this is?! He's coming!" Jovan exclaimed.

" _Who?! Who is coming?!_ " Ralis shouted into Jovan's face.

Seconds afterwards, Ralis and Jovan saw a ghost of a dwarf pass through the wall close by, entering the room. But this dwarf ghost looks different from the average dwarf. He seems a few feet taller than a dwarf is normally supposed to be, Ralis noticed.

"Bloody hells, Hephernaan, what is it now?" The ghost asked wearily, then when he saw Ralis and his party turning the room's contents upside down, he flinched in shock. "Wait. You're not Hephernaan. Who are you?"

At this moment everyone stopped searching for the secret passage and noticed the ghost.

"Ralis Rutela. Who are you? Are you one of Hephernaan's lackeys?"

The half-dwarf ghost shook his head. "I've no love for the _feldurking_ beast- the swine bound me here. In life, I was Daeros Dragonspear, builder of this castle. I've lingered here many years, watching my last home change hands and fall to ruin."

"Wait, you're THE Daeros Dragonspear? Oh what a stroke of luck- do you have any secret passages out of this room? Because if you do, we need to find it, and fast!" Ralis said.

"In this room?" Daeros pointed the index fingers of his hands down towards the floor, and Ralis and Jovan nodded together.

"Hmm. I think there is. But because there are so many new blasted decorations here I can't rightly remember where it is," Daeros said in mild frustration while stroking his beard and getting his bearings in the room.

"Is it against the wall, or on the floor?" Corwin asked Daeros.

"On the floor, as I recall, but where, exactly? I don't know, bloody Hephernaan brought so much junk in this room it is hard for me to compare my old memories of this place to how it looks now," Daeros said.

"On the floor, eh?" Voghiln repeated, then he walked over to the white rug with the symbol of Caelar's crusade on it, crouched down, grabbed the edges and threw it off the floor, revealing nothing but the stone floor.

"Oh that's right, I forgot, there is a tile that blends in with the floor. Step on it, and it will reveal a hidden stairway that will take you straight down to the underground caverns. It is a long walk down, but it's the only way out. Besides, before I came in here, I saw almost 30 crusaders come into the basement, heading this way," Daeros said.

"Oh no! We better hurry!" Khalid said.

Neera stepped all over the part of the floor that used to be covered by Hephernaan's rug until she stepped on the tile and everyone heard an audible click, even with the deafening banging noise of the clay golems trying to punch the barricaded door down. Meanwhile on the other side of the door, already ten crusader kinghts gathered in the hallway watching the two clay golems trying to punch the door down, holding their weapons at the ready. The other twenty crusaders stood outside the hallway where the barred gates are since the hallway ahead if them is already crowded enough..

"Hephernaan says the hero of Baldur's Gate is in his private chambers," one of the crusader knights said.

"How is that possible? How did he slip by us?" a crusader scout woman wondered aloud.

"Does it matter?" A crusader knight next to her replied. "He is within our grasp now. We will finally be able to open the portal to Avernus and save the souls of our loved ones finally!"

Hephernaan arrived, casually shoving his way past the crowds of crusader knights until he reached the hallway his chambers is in.

"How much progress have we made?" He asked an elite crusader, a middle aged human man with long white hair, green eyes, a white beard and a thin ragged scar down his left cheek.

"None, sir. The clay golems are trying to punch their way into your quarters, but they are making very little progress," the elite crusader man replied.

Hephernaan suddenly glared at the man.

"What do you mean by "little progress"? They are trapped like rats in there!" He snapped.

"With all due respect, Hephernaan, I don't think those clay golems are able to get inside, since we believe the doors on the other side have been heavily barricaded, and those golems are not as strong as stone golems," the man replied to the enraged young priest.

That did it, that made Hephernaan start to lose his temper. He walked away from the man while the clay golems continued pounding on the doors, spraying bits and pieces of hardened clay haphazardly from their thick fists, then he screamed in frustration, wanting to punch someone or something, then he walked back towards the elite crusader, fuming, grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the wall, which surprised both the elite crusader and the crusaders watching them.

"I have waited too long for the hero of Baldur's Gate to come within our reach, and I will not allow the goals of the crusade to be postponed by some _ACCURSED BARRICADE!_ " He screamed in the elite crusader's face.

All the crusaders around them were stunned into silence after hearing Hephernaan yell out loud, and the clay golems continued pounding at the door. The few that have seen Hephernaan interact with Caelar know that on the outside, he seems to be a kindhearted, devout and wise man, offering counsel or words of encouragement to Caelar whenever she is depressed or doubts her own cause, so seeing him choke a fellow crusader out of rage looked completely out of character for him in their eyes. But they don't know about his true goals, his true allegiance.

"You hear that?" M'khiin asked her companions while checking a wall for a secret switch near Hephernaan's bed.

"Yeah. Sounds like Hephernaan has blown a blood vessel," Neera remarked.

"Focus, people," Daeros said. "Now, as I recall, the secret stairway should have been opened opened along the walls somewhere..." Daeros looked around, and noticed that some parts of the walls in this room are covered by several crimson curtains, inconveniently hiding the secret stairway. "...Oh, bloody _feldurking_ Hephernaan..." Daeros groaned in frustration.

"What?" Jaheira frowned.

"I forgot which direction on the wall the hidden staircase is supposed to be. It must be behind one of those curtains Hephernaan set up here as decorations."

"Say no more! We're on it!" Corwin said, then she and Jaheira got started on peeling down the curtains around the room.

"And while you're at it, rub those marks on the floor out and you'll break the spell binding me. I can't leave this place to help you further unless those marks are erased," Daeros added, pointing down at the marking on the floor near his feet.

"On it," Ralis said, and he and Jovan got started rubbing out the marks with their boots.

Meanwhile on the other side of the door, Hephernaan had already released his choke hold on the elite crusader, and grew more and more impatient with every passing second. It is becoming apparent to him and the 30 crusader knights with him that the clay golems are getting nowhere, and the hallway floor is littered with hardened clay crumbs. Hephernaan grumbled something in anger, then he cast a spell on the two clay golems, causing their clay bodies to soften and melt into a puddle of liquefied clay. The growing puddle of melted clay reached Hephernaan's sandals, but he didn't care, all that is on his mind is chewing out the incompetent crusaders with him.

"The only individual who can help us open the portal to Avernus is in that room, and two clay golems are getting us nowhere!" Hephernaan shouted at them angrily, then he turned to face the elite crusader he choked recently next to him.

"Hephernaan, sir, calm down. If Caelar were here with us, she would say-" one of the crusaders, a half-elf woman started to say, but Hephernaan rudely cut her off.

"CAELAR IS NOT HERE, YOU FOOL!" He started seething after he said that. "If none of you thrice accursed idiots can find a way to get through this door, I might as well take matters into my own hands!" He stepped in front of the door, reached into his pocket to hold a diamond in his right hand then prepared to cast a Chromatic Orb at the door, chanting the words and moving his arms to make the spell work.

Seconds before Hephernaan started to cast the Chromatic Orb spell, Jaheira finally pulled down the curtain on the wall that concealed the hidden stairway. It is on the left side near the altar where Hephernaan was speaking to his master minutes ago, near the curtains that conceal Hephernaan's bed.

"This way, let's go!" Jaheira exclaimed, going down the stairs with Khalid, Viconia, Dorn, Baeloth, M'khiin and Voghiln following them.

"Are you free now, Daeros?" Ralis asked the half-dwarf ghost.

Daeros nodded. "I am now. Let's get out of here," he said.

Then Corwin, Dynaheir, Minsc, Glint, Neera, Jovan, Ralis and Daeros entered the secret passageway.

"Press that button over there to seal the passageway off!" Daeros told Ralis, pointing over at the stone tile wall to the right.

Ralis looked to the right and saw a stone tile jutting out of the wall unlike the other tiles, then he pressed his hand into it so that it can be even with the other tiles, then everyone saw and heard the stone wall slide back into place, sealing the secret passageway and enveloping them in the darkness of the passageway that spirals down towards the underground caverns beneath Dragonspear.

Two seconds after the stone wall slid back into place, Hephernaan unleashed the Chromatic orb, and a large, dazzling violet colored globe flew at the door, and upon impact, exploded and forced the door wide open, destroying the barricade bar that held the door locked and the objects that Ralis and his party used to make the barricade stronger have been flung around the room after the door had been forced open. Hephernaan stood back and let the crusader knights come in to his chambers. Only two scouts and four knights charged in swords, maces bows and arrows and crossbows ready to be unleashed, but everyone stopped and froze when they noticed no one is in Hephernaan's private chambers.

"What is it?" Hephernaan asked while still standing outside the room, sensing something amiss.

"Uh, Hephernaan, sir... the hero of Baldur's Gate is not here. No one is," the elite crusader said.

Hephernaan's eyes widened in shock. "What? That's not possible, there is no way they could have escaped..."

Hephernaan entered his chambers with a crusader mage, a half-silver dragon man alongside him.

He looked around in disbelief and utter shock. His chambers is a mess, as if a tornado hit it, sending everything that is not glued to the ground strewn around the room.

"This cannot be... This cannot be...!" Hephernaan whispered in horror, knowing his master will be very displeased to know about this.

The crusader mage cast Dispel Magic, to make sure Ralis and his party weren't hiding in the room using an invisibility spell to trick them into believing they have escaped. as the mage expected, the spell did not dispel any magic because there are none in the area.

"I'm afraid it is true, Hephernaan. The Bhaalspawn has eluded us once again," the half-dragon woman said forlornly.

Hephernaan dropped to his knees and screamed in rage at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile Ralis and his party carefully descended down the stairs in the dark passageway, pressing both hands on both sides of the walls enclosed around them, and as usual, Neera cast Light on her staff to illuminate the passage with light so they could see where they are going. Ralis felt glad that he is not claustrophobic, otherwise being here would give him a heart attack.

"That was a close call, wasn't it? I can imagine that two-faced bastard screaming in rage right about now," Daeros said, chuckling.

"Yes, Tymora smiled upon us. By the way, have you learned anything about Hephernaan? Tell me what you know, I beseech you," Ralis replied as he walked down the stairs alongside Daeros, Corwin and Jovan, with everyone else behind them.

"He plays the pious, kindhearted priest, but he's trying to open a gate to the Nine Hells, the snake. I first saw Hephernaan when he came down with that aasimar, what's her name- Caelar. You know what an aasimar is?" He looked up at Ralis, but didn't wait for a reply, he continued speaking even when he saw Ralis nod. "Celestial-blooded, you could say. They needed divine blood to open the gate, but Caelar's wasn't strong enough to do the job," Daeros explained.

"Once again, Tymora smiles upon us. The last thing the Sword Coast needs is the Hells invading for a third time. What happened next?" Ralis pressed for more information as they followed the seemingly endless stairs down.

Daeros scoffed, and Ralis thought that he saw a smile on his face though his lips are covered by his thick dwarf beard.

"Hephernaan got madder than a hornet in a helmet. He stormed off with Caelar trailing after him. When he came back, I saw him use that altar to speak with some dark creature. The fiend spotted me- Hephernaan bound me right quick. I've been trapped ever since," Daeros replied, only smirking when he mentioned how mad Hephernaan got.

The clues to the crusades true goal is starting to come together. But one thing Ralis never knew is that Hephernaan tried to open the portal using Caelar's blood. Her blood, although different, comes from a divine source, like his own. But does it have to be the blood of a celestial being, or a god?

"You said the portal needs divine blood to open. Could the blood of a child of Bhaal work?" Ralis asked Daeros as they followed the passageway curving left a few steps, then spiraling down a few feet.

"I don't know. Probably," Daeros replied, his mildly exasperated tone hinting that he is annoyed that Ralis is asking a question that he doesn't know the answer to. "I overheard Hephernaan say Caelar's blood was too weak, too diluted by generations. A god's direct descendant? Open a vein and that portal could pop right open," he added.

Ralis recalled Caelar telling him that she is the descendant of a human man or woman that conceived a child with an angelic creature known as a Solar hundreds of years ago. Angelic and Celestial creatures like Solars don't mingle with mortal races often, so that explains why the Solar blood in her veins has been diluted by generations of human blood.

"Even if that could be possible, this won't bode well for the Sword Coast," Corwin said.

"Aye, I agree. I've seen the demons come out of that portal twice years back. If that happens again... You must stop Hephernaan," Daeros replied.

"We will, Daeros, and thank you for helping us out of that seemingly inescapable situation," Ralis said.

"Anytime. I wish I could help all of you further, but I have this to tell you, so listen now: In the center of the castle's main hall floor mosaic is a loose stone. If it's not been discovered, you should find something of worth beneath it. The Fugue pulls on my soul now. I hear the call of my old friend Halatathlaer," Daeros said.

"Before he went to the Fugue, he told me to tell you that he hasn't forgotten about you after all this time," Ralis told Daeros as they continued going down the stairs.

"Is that so? Thank you for bringing us back together. Axe high, friend. When you find Hephernaan, give him a good kick in the nether regions for Daeros Dragonspear," Daeros said before his incorporeal body transformed into mist and quickly drifted down the stairs too fast to follow, being pulled into the Fugue Plague's portal way back in Kanaglym.

* * *

It took two minutes for Ralis and his party to reach the end of the secret stairway. At the end it seemed that they reached a dead end, but Corwin noticed a lever close by and pulled it, and the door disguised as a stone wall slid open, revealing the tunnels of the underground caverns beneath Dragonspear Castle. Retracing their steps back to the area where Ladle and the other supply delivering crusaders are stationed wasn't a challenging feat at all. All Ralis and his party had to do is find the sound of the underground river, and follow the trail they took before for the next two hours. Once they returned, Ladle eagerly greeted them.

"You're back! All of you are back! Tell me, is the coast clear? Did you take care of the fish folk?" He asked them with an expectant smirk on his face.

Ralis felt relieved to see that Ladle and his team are not yet aware of what happened in the basement of Dragonspear, but it is only a matter of time. No doubt Hephernaan is already aware of their "miraculous" escape and is probably in the process of alerting the crusaders in that cavernous room below Dragonspear's basement that can only be reached by the elevators operated by those two ogres.

"We took care of the sahuagin, Ladle. The path to Dragonspear is clear, now," Ralis announced, raising his voice loud enough so Ladle's team can hear.

And as expected, Ladle's team erupted into happy cheers and applause.

"Amazing! You actually cleared out those fish folk? We are forever in your debt! For a group of new recruits, you lot handle yourselves very well!" Ladle congratulated them.

Then he turned around to face his team.

"All right, people! I never thought I'd say this again, but it's time to get back to work, delivering these supplies to the Shining Lady!" He exclaimed.

The team of supply delivering crusaders cheered and whooped once again, then they got prepared, picking up all the crates they can carry, and Ladle turned back to face Ralis and his group again.

"What about you? Will you help us?" Ladle asked.

"Uh, no, we got other business to attend to," Ralis said.

Ladle nodded. "It's all right, I understand. We all have a role to play here in the Shining Lady's noble cause," he said.

 _If you only knew, Ladle, if you only knew what I know..._ Ralis groaned silently, pitying Ladle and his team for believing that they are working for a noble cause, when in actuality, they are working to help Hephernaan and his mysterious master bring a third Dragonspear War upon the Sword Coast.

Ralis and his party went to the pathway that takes them to the part of the caverns where vegetation grows in abundance with a myriad of hostile sentient plants. Instead of venturing towards Kanaglym, they headed straight for the entrance of the mysterious druid's temple. Ralis approached the vine covered door and twisted the knob, only to find that it is locked.

"Neera, do you have another one of those Knock spells memorized? If you do, now is a good time to use it," Ralis said.

Neera shook her head. "I only memorized it once, sorry," she said.

"Damn it!" Ralis cursed, knowing they can't waste hours here waiting for Neera to memorize it again.

"Ranger, are you thinking what I am thinking?" Dorn looked over at Minsc.

Minsc grinned at him. "I am thinking the same thing, evil orc man!"

Dorn and Minsc walked forward as Ralis said:

"How are we going to get to Ferrusk without a way to get into this place?

Dorn and Minsc passed by Ralis, Jovan and Corwin, and charged at the door, forcing it open with their combined physical strength!"

"That works," Corwin said, then everyone entered the temple immediately.

They saw that a lot of moss and ferns covered the ground, stalagmites and stalactites here too, Up ahead about sixteen yards stood the mysterious druid standing in a circle outlined with stones, in front of the thick roots of a tree. Most likely it is the tree they met Jamven and that other druid close by, since the top of the tree extends past the cavern's ceiling.

The mysterious druid, Ferrusk, didn't seem to hear Dorn and Minsc break down his door, he wasn't startled or terrified at all. He just casually turned around to face them, his face emotionless like before.

"Strangers... so many strangers in the depths these days. Why have you sought me out?" Ferusk asked them.

"We've met before, several hours ago. You warned us not to go forward at the big cavern entrance outside," Ralis reminded him.

Ferrusk's expression barely changed.

"I warn many such travelers. Their faces rarely stay in my mind," he said stoically.

"I can understand that. Is this your home?" Ralis asked, looking up at the moss covered stalactites, more than dozens of green fireflies giving light to this dreary room.

"This is the circle where I worship the land beneath the land. But that is not why you are here, I think," Ferrusk replied.

"It is a marvel to behold. I wonder if I might ask you something," Ralis said.

"What do you WANT, stranger?" Ferrusk asked, his stoic tone now showing some signs of mild irritation.

"Information. Why are the treants, dryads, mushroom people and animals in this area so stirred up?" Ralis asked, stepping closer to the stone circle Ferrusk is standing in.

"Through experimentation and magic, I have enhanced some of the local fauna," Ferrusk replied.

"Magically enhanced animals, good idea. I'm sure that won't come back to haunt you," Ralis said sarcastically.

"By the terms of my bargain with Hephernaan, I am permitted to perform my experiments," Ferrusk said firmly.

Ralis crossed his arms. "Tell me more about this agreement. Why would you bargain with trespassers?"

"Not out of altruism," Ferrusk admitted, shaking his head twice. "I struck a deal with him. Safe passage in exchange for assistance in a... personal matter."

"Would this personal matter involve a pair of druids on the surface?" Ralis prodded further.

Ferrusk bristled visibly. Apparently he didn't expect Ralis to know about Jamven and Chorster.

"Some in the circle refused to accept my authority. Fools! With Hephernaan and his followers' help, I drove them off," he said.

"I've talked to those druids. They say you went mad and started to breed unnatural creatures and that's why they left," Ralis rebuked him.

"I care nothing for what those weak-willed halfwits on the surface say! Their very existance is a thorn in my side. Remove it for me, then you will be rewarded," Ferrusk shot back.

"I'll think about it. But I am concerned about your deal with Hephernaan, though. Caelar's crusade is no force for good. Your deal was ill-struck," Ralis said.

"I did not deal with the Shining Lady. Caelar Argent's aspirations mean nothing to me. What happens on the surface is no concern of mine," Ferrusk said.

"But it should. Caelar seeks to open a gate to the Nine Hells. Infernal fiends will swarm the land, ravaging the Sword Coast and beyond," Ralis said.

Ferrusk blinked and took a step back, and for a moment Ralis thought he would come to his senses, but what Ferrusk said next proved otherwise.

"You try to trick me. Hephernaan is not so foolish. He has dealt fairly with me, I shall abide by the terms of our agreement."

Ralis cursed silently. He thought that Ferrusk would understand, being forewarned of the greater danger ahead, but his thoughts are so dead set on obeying the terms of Hephernaan's agreement that he cannot see how the agreement is violating the balance of nature, something a druid should be protecting. Ralis figured that instead of making Ferrusk listen to reason, he should purify the tree he corrupted by force. Ferrusk won't like that, being loyal to Hephernaan's terms, but there are no alternatives anymore.

"It's your funeral. Except there won't be anyone to hold a funeral because we'll all be ripped apart by fiends. All right," Ralis said in defeat, then snapped his fingers. "Dorn, Minsc, restrain him," he ordered.

Dorn and Minsc stepped forward and grabbed Ferrusk by his arms. Minsc grabbed his right arm, Dorn grabbed his left arm.

"What are you doing?" Ferrusk asked Ralis, his once stoic and emotionless voice showing a little more emotion now.

"Preventing you from making a mistake," Ralis replied as he walked by Minsc and Dorn. They forced Ferrusk to turn and face Ralis, then they put pressure on his arms, forcing him to get down on his knees.

He approached the base of the tree, holding the bright green enchanted seed in his right hand. When he stepped between the two large buttress roots, he turned around to face Ferrusk and held out his right hand with his palm open so the druid can see the enchanted seed. As expected, seeing the seed made Ferrusk's eyes widen in surprise.

"No! Get away from that tree!" He demanded, trying to shake loose from Minsc and Dorn's grasp to no avail.

Ralis dropped the enchanted seed down to the ground, and when it landed, the seed glowed bright green, and arcane energies spread from it, going to the tree's buttress roots, then traveling up the tree, purifying it from bottom to top. Jaheira smiled approvingly, sensing that the evil energies that infected the tree has finally been purged. Ferrusk, however, is not happy in the slightest.

"No! You ruined everything! I told you to stay away. You should have listened!" He growled in rage.

Dorn knew that Ferrusk is dangerous now that he has been angered, so before anything happened, he grabbed Ferrusk's head and broke his neck, killing him instantly.

"What did you do?!" Minsc demanded to Dorn in shock.

"I killed him before he could become a threat to us all," Dorn said shamelessly.

"He was no threat. We had him by his arms!" Minsc argued.

"Druids have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, ranger. I ended his life before he could play one of his cards," Dorn said evenly.

"Guys, we purified the tree, mission accomplished, no need to argue, the chances of redeeming the druid were slim anyway, now let's get out of here before the crusaders find us," Ralis said.

* * *

Ralis and his party returned to the exit out of the caverns that will take them back up to the surface to the campsite where Rigah and Julann are. As they neared the exit, they noticed that daylight is gone. They spent so many hours spelunking in the underground caverns that it is now dusk, possibly a few hours away from midnight.

"Wow. We've been down there for so long I never realized that it is nighttime now," Ralis said as they emerged from the mouth of the cavern.

The crusader campsite outside the underground cavern entrance is still empty, save for Rigah and Julann sitting near a campfire, trying to keep themselves warm among the cold winter breeze. Julann was the first to notice their return.

"They are back. Rigah, our fellow Rashemi and their allies have returned. Talk to them while I attend to something," Ralis heard Julann say to her bodyguard then disappeared into her tent, and to his surprise, after Rigah stood up, he unsheathed his sword and pointed the blade at them, as if he doesn't remember meeting them many hours ago.

"Keep thy distance. My witch trusts strangers- I am more cautious," Rigah said firmly as the campfire's bright orange light reflected off of his armor.

"A sound philosophy, but I assure you we mean no harm," Ralis said.

"Then thou understandest me," Rigah said, still pointing his blade at them.

"It is good to see another brother from the east!" Minsc declared, stepping forward a few feet. "Minsc has been long in this foreign land where the evil is thick and the people are tiny."

"Agreed. I've been too long away from our people," Rigah replied.

"How long have you been on your dajemma?" Ralis asked.

At that moment, Rigah finally sheathed his big sword behind his back.

"Too long. When I left the place of my birth, I looked forward to seeing new lands, meeting new people. I have been gone years now, though, with nary a glimpse of home."

Minsc took a few steps closer towards Rigah, moving past Ralis. "I too know the loneliness of living in strange, smelly lands. Luckily, I have Boo and my witch for company," he said.

Rigah shook his head. "I have no "Boo", whatever creature that may be. But I do have a witch. Oh yes, I have a witch," he said almost sullenly.

"You and Minsc have much to discuss, then," Ralis said.

Rigah shook his head again, looking depressed still.

"I want more than his conversation. I was hoping for his advice. For years, I have followed every one of Julann's orders, indulged her every whim even as we roamed further and further from home." He paused there and looked straight at the bright campfire, its burning flames reflected in in his eyes. "I despair of ever seeing my homeland again." Then he looked back at Minsc. "How do you do it, brother Minsc? How do you endure the random caprices of your witch?"

"I'm afraid you'll not get help on this from Minsc, Rigah," Ralis chimed in before Minsc could answer. "He is utterly devoted to Dynaheir."

Rigah clearly wasn't expecting that answer. Apparently he thought that Dynaheir has the same personality as Julann, so learning that he is wrong surprised him.

"Can it be so? Not all witches are as flighty and irrepressible as my witch?" He asked.

"Minsc will follow Dynaheir to the ends of Toril, though his legs may be very sore! If she sails away, he will follow her! Preferably in the boat, but Minsc can swim," Minsc said.

Rigah looked crestfallen now. "I... I see. Then I am truly alone."

"Yes, you are. Continue blindly following your witch and things will only get worse," Ralis said.

"What art thou saying?" Rigah asked, not expecting that remark form Ralis.

"Listen, Rigah: Life with Julann will never be easy, but an honorable life rarely is. But she needs you. She would be lost without your guidance and protection. Take strength from that, and move forward," Ralis instructed him.

Rigah looked up at the star filled sky, as if he just had an epiphany of some kind. "Thou speakest true. I keep Julann safe. As long as she is in the world, I will protect her. Thank you. Thou hast cleared the fog from my mind."

At that moment Ralis felt Jaheira touch his right shoulder.

"Ralis, we need to keep moving, get away from this place as quick as possible before the crusaders catch up to us. No doubt they are already sniffing our trail back in the underground caverns," she said urgently.

"I know, but first we must tell Julann about the true face of Caelar's crusade," Ralis said.

A second after he said that, Julann emerged from her tent, wearing a new robe that is turquoise in color. with flower patterns below the waist.

"All right, I am back!" She declared.

"'Tis good to see you again, sister Julann," Dynaheris smiled.

"And 'tis good to see you too, sister, Dynaheir," Julann replied, then looked up at the sky for some unknown reason while Rigah went back over to the campfire and sat near it with a confident smile on his face."Hmm. I wonder if birds ever die of old age while they're flying and fall RIGHT out of the sky?" She asked.

Though the question intrigued Ralis a bit, he wanted to get down to business.

"I've something here you need to see, Julann," he said as he approached her, giving Julann the letter he took back in Kanaglym that belonged to Kherriun, the letter that explains how to create an army of undead.

"What is this?" Julann asked, hesitant to take the notes from his hands.

"Notes from a ritual designed by Hephernaan. He sought to raise an undead army," Ralis said.

Julann took the notes finally and read them. As she read the notes, her eyes gradually grew wide in disbelief.

"What...? No! I don't believe it," she said, then threw the notes down to the ground in denial.

Ralis groaned. Julann is as stubborn as Ferrusk. What is it about Hephernaan that makes them have no trace of doubt about what they get into?

"You must, mine sister. The evidence is here before thine eyes," Dynaheir urged.

"Anyone could have written these papers. A squirrel, even! I met a talking squirrel in a taproom once, it could happen!" Julann said.

"I can believe that. I met a squirrel once that cawed like a crow outside a village of goblins conjured up by a wild mage," Neera blurted out.

Julann pointed at Neera with a smile and winked at her, feeling justified.

"Neera! Not helping!" Ralis scolded her then turned to face Julann. "You grasp at reasons to dismiss the proof before your eyes. Help me here, Rigah. Please," Ralis said, turning to Rigah for support.

Rigah stood up from sitting near the campfire and approached Julann.

"Julann, you must trust this one. The other witch and her berserker trusted them, and so do I," he said with unwavering confidence.

"Yes, we Rashemi must stand together! Not too close together, though. Minsc has a wide swing," Minsc said.

Julann had a defeated forwn for a second, then it transformed into a smile that doesn't look sincere.

"Of course you're correct, my little beetles. What was I thinking, I don't know, truly. We shall leave this place at once, Rigah," she said.

Ralis, Minsc and Dynaheir were visibly relieved to see that Julann finally listened to reason, but they don't know she only did it because her bodyguard vouched for them.

"Luck to you on your travels. I hope you won't need it, but a little luck's never hurt anyone," Ralis said as Julann and Rigah packed their belongings into their rucksacks.

"Onward, then! Thank you again, dear ones," Julann said, then she followed Rigah towards the gates.

When he opened the gates, everyone noticed that all of the crusader sentries near the once approaching caravan many yards away down the road are dead. Looks like Jamven and Chorster's animal companions managed to slay all the crusaders so that their entry, and now escape, can go unnoticed. Rigah and Julann walked down the road towards the damaged caravan and walked past it, and Ralis and his group retraced their steps to the tree that they purified to let Jamven and Chorster know that the tree is healthy again. When they approached the tree, they noticed that the two druids seem to be expecting them, they both had smiles on their faces.

"Greetings, Ralis. The forest told me of your approach," Jamven said by way of greeting.

"Greetings once again, Jamven," Ralis said courteously.

"We saw the corrupt luminescence fade from the tree's branches and knew you had succeeded. You have our gratitude," Chorster said.

"I wanted to show Ferrusk the error of his ways, but in the end, I had no choice but to kill him," Ralis said.

"Regardless of your motivations, your actions have benefited us and this forest. Please, take this as a symbol of our thanks," Jamven said as he reached into one of the pockets of his robes and gave Ralis a bright blue opal jewel.

"I'm glad I could help," Ralis said after placing the opal into one of the small bags attached to his belt.

"May your travels be swift," Jamven said, then the fourteen heroes walked away.

* * *

Meanwhile back in Dragonspear Castle, Hephernaan is alone in his chambers, down on his knees in front of the altar, apologizing to his master.

"You had the Bhaalspawn right here, Hephernaan. Here! And you let him slip through your fingers!" Hephernaan's master growled through the lesser portal.

"My deepest apologies, master. I did not expect Daeros Dragonspear to help them escape through a secret passage that I was unaware of," Hephernaan said.

"Hmph. Apologies, and more apologies. I tire of apologies, Hephernaan, and failures."

Hephernaan felt beads of sweat run down his face.

"This is just a temporary setback, master. I've spoken to Caelar Argent a few minutes ago, and we've come up with a solution to this problem," he said.

His master didn't reply immediately, he just paused for three seconds, then said: "What sort of solution do you have in mind?"

"We plan to parley with the coalition camp. If they willingly give us the child of Bhaal, Caelar promises to disband her army and surrender within the week," Hephernaan said.

"And what if the Bhaalspawn does not willingly come to us? How much does he know?" Hephernaan's master asked.

Hephernaan hesitated from replying. He has no clue how much Ralis knows about the true intentions of the crusade, and Caelar's.

"Not much, I believe. He may have spied on us long enough to realize that I do not truly answer to Caelar, but even if he tries to bring it up during the parley, Caelar will not believe him," Hephernaan said.

"... I do not like your plan, but will have to suffice. Do not fail me again, Hephernaan," his master warned him.

* * *

Ralis and his party reached the coalition camp a few hours later, tired and weary. As they approached the camp entrance guarded by a few guards belonging to Waterdeep and Daggerford's militia, they noticed one of the Waterdhavian guards approaching them as if he has an important message to relay to them, and he does.

"Ralis, you're here. Good. Torsin deLancie told me to send you to him if you returned," the guard said.

"Oh, NOW he wants to see me. Of course. Well, where are he and the other commanders, then?" Ralis asked, trying to hide his disdain of answering directly to deLancie after their disagreement about the poison.

"You'll not find them in the camp, sir. They're on the Trade Way road. Caelar has called for a parley and the commanders left to meet with her. You should go to the pass as soon as you're able and join the discussion," the guard said.

Ralis felt someone tap his left shoulder, and he turned around to see Jovan.

"I don't like this, Ralis. Caelar had plenty of chances to parley with us. Why is she doing this after you barely escaped Dragonspear?" He said.

"I know this smells fishy, Jovan, but-" Ralis started to say.

"Fishy? Wake up, Ralis! This parley stinks up to high heaven! I know what she really wants, and that's you so that she can release Hephernaan's master!"

"We don't know if that's possible or not! Even Daeros is unsure that could happen!" Ralis countered.

"It doesn't matter what Daeros thinks! If the crusaders believe that your blood can open the portal, then they will go to any lengths to get you! And that is something I will give my life to prevent!" Jovan declared.

"Why?" Ralis shot back. "Why are you so committed to defending me when it is the lives of these soldiers here that matter more?"

Jovan's frustration nearly boiled over, so he had to stop and recollect himself, inhaling and exhaling.

"Because you might be the key to _HIS_ return! If you are the key, we are all dead, you, me, everyone!"

Ralis groaned. Jovan knows something about Hephernaan's master, and it is scaring him witless, he could see that, hells, everyone can.

"You're referring to Hephernaan's master once again. Why?"

"... Because he is a ruthless, evil son of a snake, Ralis. Demons like him don't deserve to set foot here on the Prime," Jovan replied, looking deeply into the young human's eyes.

Ralis frowned, sensing that Jovan may have crossed paths with Hephernaan's master at some point in his life.

"You speak as if you know him. Tell me, do you know his name?"

"Whether I know him or not doesn't matter. What does matter is that you should not turn yourself over to Caelar's hands! It is a disaster waiting to happen!" Jovan exclaimed.

"A disaster that might never happen whether they have me or not!" Ralis rebuked the elf. "You said it yourself: These people are fanatics, they will zealously fight anyone and destroy anything in their way to get what they think they need. That's what makes them dangerous. If this parley is an opportunity to avoid more bloodshed, then I am going to that meeting, with or without you."

Ralis was the first to turn around and walk away from the camp. Baeloth and Viconia walked into the camp, eager to sleep in a bedroll after so many hours of walking. The rest of the group, except Jovan, followed him.

"You're making a mistake, Ralis! Don't let Caelar's words sway you! It will mean the death of us all!" Jovan called after them.

As soon as they set foot on the Trade Way road, they headed north as if they are on their way to Dragonspear Castle.

* * *

Walking along the Trade Way road in the middle of the night towards Dragonspear Castle made Ralis wonder if the parley call is a ruse of some sort. But if it were, then Caelar wouldn't have called Nederlok, deLancie and Stonehand to the meeting too. At first Ralis and his party saw nothing but darkness 38 feet ahead of them beyond the illumination of Neera's glowing staff, but after ten minutes of walking up the empty road, they saw more lights many yards ahead on the road. Cedric deLancie, Haither Stonehand, and Kyrill Nederlok and their six bodyguards, two from the Flaming Fist, two from Daggerford's militia and two from Waterdeep's militia have already met up with Caelar Argent, Hephernaan, Adras Ashatiel and their bodyguards four feet ahead of them, six elite crusaders wearing helmets that obscure their faces, and their horses are barely within view behind them. Since it is past midnight, the mages on both sides had to cast the Light spell as well, illuminating their quarterstaffs so that no one in the vicinity will be blinded by the darkness. Though it is unlikely that Caelar is affected by the lack of light sources in the area, her bright, shining eyes must give her the ability to see in the dark.

"...If I understand you correctly then, you're willing to surrender your troops and abandon Dragonspear Castle. All we have to do is give you the Bhaalspawn," deLancie repeated, visibly considering the offer, then gently scratched the bridge of his nose with his right hand.

Stonehand looked over at deLancie in surprise. In her experience of war, compromising with the enemy is not always a good thing, there is usually an angle the enemy tries to play at, and deLancie isn't seeing that, any coward would look for an easy way out.

"You better not be considering this offer, deLancie. We all know you're a coward- don't be a traitor too," she warned him.

"I only intended to clarify the offer, Stonehand. No need for accusations," deLancie said apologetically to the miffed dwarf woman.

"You understand my position, then. I need the child of Bhaal, but only for a short time. I shall return him safe, unharmed, within the week and disperse my troops from Dragonspear Castle," Caelar said as soon as she saw Ralis and his party coming up behind the three generals and their bodyguards.

deLancie was the second person after Caelar to notice Ralis and his party arriving.

"Ah, Ralis, there you are. We've only just started negotiations," he said.

"Any progress?" Ralis asked, taking position next to Nederlok, his party staying a couple feet behind.

"I think there are some promising avenues we can explore," deLancie said with a reassuring smile.

Nederlok shook his head in disappointment at deLancie for sugarcoating the details.

"She wants you, Ralis," Nederlok clarified. "She says she'll disband her army and surrender if you go with her. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?"

Ralis nodded in agreement, but he didn't say anything.

"Listen to me, Ralis," Caelar called for his attention. "The lost souls of the Dragonspear dead need a hero. That hero is you. Join me, and together we shall liberate the souls trapped in the Nine Hells."

Ralis had to admit, Caelar knows how to make a strong case. A part of him is tempted to give her aid if what she says about the souls of the people who died in the first and second Dragonspear Wars are trapped in the Nine Hells, but something doesn't quite add up. When all this started a few months ago, before most of the Flaming Fist left Baldur's Gate, assassins bearing the insignia of Caelar's crusade attacked him and Imoen at the Ducal Palace. Why send assassins with poisoned blades, but not sending a messenger?

"You're up to something, Caelar. If it were that simple you would have just asked for my help instead of drumming up an army and sending assassins after me," Ralis said.

Caelar seemed to be a little offended after he spoke, and her glowing eyes brightened slightly.

"You know nothing of me, godling. You have no idea the compromises I've made, the people I lost, to stand here today. If you did, you would not be so quick to condemn me," she patronized him like an offended mother.

Ashatiel took a few steps towards Caelar and said: "I told you, my lady. Boareskyr Bridge was an omen. This- this person cannot be trusted. You cannot rely on him to do the right thing."

"Hey, I had no control over what happened at Boareskyr Bridge, so don't assume to know me either, winged wench," Ralis shot back at Caelar's winged lieutenant.

"Please! There's no need for such inflammatory language," deLancie exclaimed, stepping in to break up the argument. "We're all working toward the same end here. Unpalatable compromises must sometimes be made, for the greater good."

Nederlok and Ralis stared at deLancie in utter disbelief, and Stonehand frowned at him in amusement. For a man who has no actual experience commanding an army, he said something that all commanding officers must understand.

"I... I agree with deLancie," Stonehand said, the tone of her voice hinting she is surprised to agree with a man she once saw as a coward.

"You what?" Nederlok looked at Stonehand in disbelief.

"Oh, don't waggle your finger at me, Nederlok. You've got troops to spare. My militia's 50 souls strong, and I know them all by name. I know their families. Daggerford answered the call, but do any of you care about us? The hells you do," Stonehand scolded Nederlok as if he were a child.

Nederlok shook his head in denial.

"Use your brains, both of you. We can't agree to this. The reports from Baldur's Gate said someone paid for the hero's blood on a sword. Now Caelar wants the hero under her control. I don't like it," he reminded them.

"The blood of the divine runs through our friend's veins. His body itself is a source of power," Dynaheir chimed in.

Caelar was overhearing all this conversation, and when she heard Nederlok mention someone hired assassins to kill the hero of Baldur's Gate, she became genuinely concerned.

"Someone in Baldur's Gate paid for the Bhaalspawn's blood? Why?" She turned to Hephernaan for answers. "Hephernaan, what can this mean?" She asked him.

"Calm yourself, my lady. It is likely a coincidence, unrelated to our plans. Appeal to the child of Bhaal. Make him understand the importance of cooperation," Hephernaan said in that calm, soothing voice of his.

Ralis has seen Hephernaan's true face, how he had a cabal of necromancers in Kanaglym sacrificing men to make an undead army, so seeing him act like a kindhearted, pious priest made Ralis want to retch. He wanted to expose this two-faced mage's activities to Caelar and her bodyguards right here and now.

"Was the cabal of necromancers I had encountered in ancient ruins underneath Dragonspear also a coincidence?" Ralis called out, hoping that he could trip up Hephernaan with the knowledge that he knows about what happened in Kanaglym.

"Why do you choose to blame Lady's hand for every misfortune that has befallen you, Bhaalspawn?" Hephernaan asked Ralis with a dismayed look.

 _I didn't blame Caelar for anything,_ Ralis silently retorted, noting how crafty the false priest is at protecting himself from such an incriminating question.

"The Crusade does not dabble in the dark arts of necromancy. Nor does it seek needless bloodshed. All my lady asks of you is to live up to your reputation as the hero of Baldur's Gate," he concluded.

"If it'll save the troops-" Stonehand blurted out, hoping to find a solution that doesn't result in the loss of her 50 soldiers.

Nederlok knew now that he better drive to the point of his objections before Stonehand and deLancie side against him.

"What Caelar plans for the hero may be worse than loss of life. I understand your position, Stonehand, but you must see that cooperation could end in a bigger disaster than a battle," he said.

"It pains me to say it, but Nederlok is right. This time. Though I'd happily sacrifice the Bhaalspawn's life to end this war, we don't know what sending him off with Caelar means," deLancie said.

While Nederlok was explaining why he is against the idea of turning the Ralis over to Caelar, Ralis looked over at Ashatiel, standing three feet away from Caelar's left, and while his eyes were focused on her wings, he also noticed that she is looking straight at him, giving him a cold, piercing death glare, which made him flinch. It was not a "avert your eyes from me" glare, it was more of a "I'll run my sword through your heart" glare, and Ralis found that rather disturbing coming from one of Caelar's elite crusaders. What does she have against him? He never even met her before. After deLancie spoke, Ralis shook off all thoughts about Ashatiel's disturbing scowl towards him and said:

"I'm glad you all are trying to see what the big picture is here. Surrender is a tool, one that shouldn't be used unless the outcome is clear. I stay with the coalition."

And so the parley concluded with Caelar and Hephernaan failing to convince Ralis to come with them.

"No prisoner for you, Light Lady of Shiny Evil Brightness!" Minsc taunted Caelar with a triumphant smile.

Caelar shook her head in depression for a few seconds, but she regained her composure and confidence.

"Time is now our enemy. If someone else seeks the Bhaalspawn... I cannot wait any longer for you to see the light. What will not be given freely must be taken," she said, then she gave the hand signal for her bodyguards to fall back.

"As you command, my lady," Hephernaan bowed respectfully and walked away with Ashatiel and the other crusaders present, but Caelar stood where she always stood to say some parting words to the generals and Ralis.

"When next you see my banner, it will be at the head of the army that marches on you. For righteousness. For justice," she said gallantly before turning on her heels and walking away, mounting her horse and riding away into the darkness, and then Hephernaan, Ashatiel and the elite crusaders on their own horses followed after.

"So be it. Everyone, back to camp. Prepare for an attack," Nederlok instructed.

"May Tymora favor us," deLancie said forlornly.

The generals, their bodyguards, and Ralis and his party headed back towards the coalition camp, feeling the pressure of a true battle against the crusade looming over them, which may come likely hours from now. No one wanted this war, especially Nederlok, but he couldn't afford to ignore the bigger picture at hand.

"Well, I sincerely hope you're worth what you just cost us, Ralis," deLancie said.

"Guess it's war, whether we like it or not," Stonehand said sullenly.

"Look, I know it seems like I just made a morally questionable decision here, but refusing to go with them was the right choice, believe it or not," Ralis said.

"Oh? And why is that?" deLancie asked in amusement.

"Because Caelar and Hephernaan plan on using my blood to open a portal within Dragonspear Castle that leads to the Nine Hells," Ralis said.

Nederlok, Stonehand, deLancie and their bodyguards gasped in shock, and they stopped walking, forcing Ralis and his party to pause with them.

"Are you... are you serious...?" Nederlok asked, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Would Caelar actually do something as reckless as that?" deLancie asked Ralis with an urgent look in his eyes.

Ralis shrugged and nodded. "It's true. I learned this while eavesdropping on Hephernaan in his quarters in Dragonspear Castle. I don't know if it is possible, using my blood to open the portal, but Hephernaan and Caelar strongly believe it is possible. And if it is possible, then a third Dragonspear War is imminent unless we stop it from happening."

"Then we need to stop it from happening. The heroes who aided Daggerford during the second Dragonspear War gave everything they had to make sure that bloody portal doesn't get opened again. If we let this happen, then their sacrifices will be all for naught," Stonehand said.

"Let's not stand here talking about it," Corwin urgently urged everyone. "It won't be long before archers start picking us off."

Thanks to Corwin's reminder that they are within crusader territory, everyone resumed walking back to the coalition camp.

As soon as everyone returned to camp, Nederlok, deLancie and Stonehand informed everyone in the campsite that the parley failed, that war against the crusade is imminent, that an attack will come in a few hours or at the break of dawn.


	18. Chapter 18 Bargain and War part 2

While Nederlok, deLancie and Stonehand made arrangements with their soldiers to prepare for the imminent attack from Caelar's crusaders, enhancing security around the perimeter of the coalition camp, Ralis retreated to his tent, as did the rest of his party. Every single one of them felt exhausted, tired, and need some rest to prepare for the upcoming attack, which will no doubt come in a few hours, so they need all the rest they can get before the attack arrives. Ralis had no clue how much endurance he has left to keep going. He had been active all day and almost all night past midnight. Who knows how many hours he has left to get some rest before the crusaders arrive and attack the coalition camp?

 _All I want is at least three or four hours of sleep,_ Ralis pleaded silently while he removed his ankheg hide body armor, taking off his armor plated boots, he scratched his head briefly and sighed.

He sat down on his bedroll, but did not encase his body underneath its sheets, instead, he remained in a sitting position for a minute, wondering if he made the right choice in refusing to go with Caelar. But he had to admit, the possibility of Caelar and her crusade using his blood to open the portal to Avernus is too great to ignore, even Nederlok, who at the time did not know why Caelar wanted Ralis to come with her peacefully had a hunch that the consequences of avoiding a war against the crusade would be far worse than letting the war continue. When Ralis came to that realization, he slowly accepted the fact that it is for the best that he refused to accept Caelar's demands, even though a part of him still had a hard time believing that his blood could be used like a key to open a sealed portal. Then at that moment, he heard someone step inside his tent. He opened his eyes and saw Corwin placing her left leg inside the tent after her right leg.

"Did I come in at a bad time, hero?" She asked him with a wry smile.

Ralis smiled back and shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine, you're welcome to come in."

Corwin set her bow and quiver down near the tent's exit, then she walked over to Ralis and sat down next to him to his left. Ralis looked over at her and he found himself staring into her eyes. And almost immediately he felt his heart beating slightly faster than normal in his chest.

"I, uh, get the feeling that there is something on your mind," Ralis said, unable to think of anything else to say that would break the ice building up between them.

"There is," Corwin nodded.

"It's about Rohma, isn't it?" Ralis guessed.

Corwin chuckled. "You know me too well."

Ralis nodded and smiled. "You think of her every single minute, and you make no secret of it," he said.

"I'm not just thinking about Rohma this time. I'm thinking about you, too," Corwin confirmed with no nervousness in her voice.

Ralis blinked. "Really? Why both of us and not just Rohma? She is the only love of your life," he said as he turned his head away from Corwin, smirking as if what she said is too good to be true.

"That was true in the past, but not anymore," Corwin said slowly.

Ralis turned his head to look at Corwin again in slight surprise and disbelief.

Corwin looked up at the tent's ceiling as she spoke.

"I've put plenty of thought into it, and I've made my final decision. I won't lie, what I'm thinking about scares me, especially after what I've been through with Beno and then Tianna... *sigh* Those two should have destroyed all my desires to find that certain someone I can lay beside and help support Rohma, but they haven't, because now..." She paused for a moment, then lowered her head and turned to look directly at Ralis, causing his heart to skip a beat. "... I met you, Ralis," she concluded.

Ralis gulped. "So... That means you see me as more than a friend?"

Corwin nodded.

"Do you think love can bloom on a battlefield?" She asked him, her voice sweet as honey to his ears.

Ralis felt his face flush and he chuckled while running his right hand through his hair.

"Oh, Schael... during my childhood years listening to the tales of heroes Gorion used to tell me, I've heard love bloom in the most unexpected places."

"That's reassuring," Corwin said in relief. "I thought it would be very outlandish and stupid of me to want to sleep with you in a coalition camp with an imminent battle on the horizon."

Ralis gasped softly. _Schael Corwin... wants to sleep with me...?_

He has never slept with anyone, especially a woman before, but if Corwin is serious, she will be his first, and possibly his only one of nothing happens that will ruin their relationship. Neera would have been the first if they had continued their relationship, but now it is more obvious that will never happen between them.

" _Did you just say what I thought you said...?_ " Ralis whispered.

"Yes, I did," Corwin said with a firm nod. "I thought it over when we came back to the coalition camp, and I came to a startling realization."

"What?' Ralis asked.

"That I can't support Rohma alone. Audamar, my father, is 61 years old, Ralis. When he passes away a few years from now, who will be there to watch over her while I am away on my duties as a captain of the Flaming Fist? I realize now that I must stop fearing that I'll end up with someone like Beno or Tianna- fear is what stops us from moving forward with our lives. I need the help of someone I love almost as much as I love Rohma, if not equally. That someone... is you, Ralis."

Ralis slowly nodded, feeling more blood rush to his face. "I see what you're trying to say. You want me to become Rohma's stepfather."

Corwin nodded, her face blushing red, too, though it is not very obvious to see since her skin tone is a bit more fair than Ralis' skin, and there isn't much light shining into the tent.

"I know that not many men are willing to raise a child that's not theirs, but I have a hunch that you wouldn't back down from that." Corwin inched forward towards Ralis and leaned towards him as if she is going to give him a smooch or more. "You wouldn't back down on Rohma nor me, would you?" She cooed in that sweet tone.

Corwin's actions startled him a little bit, and he could feel this sensation that he has never felt before within his body. It felt like the wings of a hundred butterflies fluttering inside every part of his body, and he felt his body temperature steadily rise, too.

"Schael... I-I love you, I've made that no secret these past few months, and I will do everything in my power to help support you and Rohma. Besides, I bet Rohma will faint from surprise when she finds out the hero of Baldur's Gate will become her stepfather," Ralis said then laughed, and Corwin laughed with him.

"How very observant of you, hero. You're right, that sort of news really will shock her into fainting. Anyway, now that we know how we feel about each other, I assume you know what comes next, right?" Corwin winked at him, then stood up and began to undress out of her armor.

Ralis remained in a sitting position, watching Corwin remove her armor plated boots, gauntlets and greaves, and then when she began to unbuckle the belt around her chainmail armor close to her waist, Ralis' heart started pounding faster than it was a minute ago, then Corwin removed her chainmail armor completely, letting it fall to the floor near her boots.

Now Corwin is wearing only her nearly skintight gray pantaloons and sweat covered white undershirt, and from Ralis' position, he noticed how Corwin's sweat drenched shirt hugged her slender form, and his eyes noticed her small but noticeable bosom visibly bulging from underneath her shirt, creating stretch wrinkles on the sides.

" _Thank you, Tymora, for blessing me with so much luck..._ " Ralis whispered under his breath in awe.

Corwin sat down and exhaled in relief, feeling the cool winter air breeze against her warm, sweat soaked skin after wearing her chainmail armor for so many hours. After she removed her shirt, leaving her torso completely naked, she looked down and noticed Ralis looking at her all wide eyed as if he has never seen anything like what he has seen before, and she smiled at him.

"I take it this is your first time seeing a partially naked woman's body?" She asked him.

Ralis only nodded, he couldn't find his voice, and even more somewhat unsettling, he felt his manhood growing erect steadily.

Corwin inched closer to him, sitting so close to him now that her right leg touches his left leg.

" _I can only imagine what it feels like growing up in Candlekeep..._ " Corwin began to say in a seductive tone, reaching her right hand down at Ralis' left leg, her hand resting on his knees, then she slowly moved her hand up to his thighs.

Ralis shuddered nervously and excitedly, feeling the ticklish sensation of Corwin's hand going up his leg even though he still wore his pants. Corwin's wild side is beginning to come out, and he had no idea how to respond.

"... _growing up there all alone, never knowing how it feels to be touched by a woman_..." Corwin cooed into Ralis' left ear as she moved her hand up his thigh towards his waist. "... going through puberty around monks must have been very difficult for you," Corwin added when she moved her hand over to the bulge on his crotch and gently tightened her grip on his erect manhoood which is protected by his codpiece.

Ralis gasped in surprise and pursed his lips as if resisting the urge to scream as he felt his groin area grow numb in excitement. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find his voice at first.

"... Uh... ah... actually, it wasn't as difficult as you think. It was awkward, but not difficult," he admitted, his voice cracking with nervousness.

"Prove it," Corwin challenged with a mischievous smirk.

Ralis slowly leaned forward and kissed Corwin on the tip of her nose. Corwin couldn't help but giggle, showing her teeth.

 _She has a cute smile, I never noticed that,_ Ralis remarked in his thoughts.

"Not bad, but I think you can do better than that," Corwin said softly.

Ralis smirked. "Be careful with what you wish for," he said, then he leaned forward towards Corwin again, and this time his lips made contact with her lips.

Ralis and Corwin further settled into the bedroll as they continued kissing still sitting upright, their moist lips making soft smacking noises. As they kissed, Ralis slowly moved his hands down towards Corwin's waist, maneuvered his hands into her shirt, then when he felt the warmth of her skin on his fingertips, he slowly moved his hands up from Corwin's waist towards her armpits, then he moved his hands slowly back down towards her waist.

"Wow, your skin is softer than I imagined," Ralis whispered after pausing to speak.

Corwin smiled before replying to his compliment. "What? Just because I am the captain of the Flaming Fist doesn't mean my body is hard as a rock."

Ralis stuttered for a moment. "Huh? W-w-wait, I didn't mean to offend you, Schael. You just carry yourself with an air of professionalism as a Flaming Fist captain should. B-b-because of that, it's easy to forget that d-d-deep down under all your talk about your duties a-a-as a Fist and your loyalty to the Grand Dukes, you are no different from any other woman, y-y-y-you have the same needs a-a-as they all do, and-"

Corwin made Ralis shut up by gently placing the index finger of her right hand on his lips.

"Shh. Stop stuttering like Khalid. All I need you to do right now is to shut up and kiss me," she whispered, then she brought her face up close to his and they resumed kissing.

As they kissed and relaxed further into be bedroll, this time laying on it, resting their heads on the pillows as they continued kissing, Ralis felt his body temperature continue to steadily rise, and he felt his manhood growing more stiff under his codpiece, and he felt this strong urge to do more than kiss Corwin. He didn't know what to do about it, all he knew is that simply kissing Corwin and feeling her skin will not be enough to satisfy his hyperactive libido, so he reached down towards his pants, undid the button, pulled down the zipper and before he could pull his pants down his legs, Corwin grabbed his wrists and stopped him. Ralis looked into Corwin's eyes in utter confusion.

"Hey, calm your trouser snake, hero. I'm not ready to give Rohma a half-brother or half-sister... yet," she warned him with a coy smile and winked at him.

Ralis felt a somewhat dull ache deep within his body when he realized that Corwin does not want to go to the next level of intimacy with him than they are now. He felt his libido slowly calming down, but it felt a bit uncomfortable to experience the feeling.

"Who said that was my intention? But if it happens while we are having fun, then it is meant to happen, Schael. I'm sure Rohma would be happy to have a sibling from the hero of Baldur's Gate. Besides, I'd like to be a father someday, if not today," he said with a forced warm smile.

Corwin chuckled in amusement.

"I admire your commitment, Ralis, but you don't know. Then again, you are a man, you'll never know. Making babies is fun, I admit that, but giving birth to them can be very painful... When I gave birth to Rohma six years ago, I had no idea how painful it would be. I made it through, but the pain I experienced and the challenges of motherhood made me the mature woman I am today, it taught me responsibility. Pain has ways of waking you up, you know? I'm not saying I don't want to have another child, I'm just not ready for that right now. I love you, and I want to feel your skin against mine, but that is all I want for now, even though my body wants more than that, too. I'm just not ready to get impregnated by you yet. You're younger than me, around Skie's age. Both you and Skie have yet to feel the weight and pressure of adulthood responsibilities. You and Skie respond to your urges with little thought on whether or not you should, but it is important that you have to learn how to control them, otherwise you'll be weighed down with responsibilities you aren't prepared for. I learned that lesson the hard way. I know you are not afraid of having your own children, in fact, I respect that. I just don't want to have another child without making sure we are truly ready first. Understand?" Corwin asked, trying her best to keep her tone sympathetic to let Ralis know that she is not trying to hurt his feelings.

She could see it in his eyes. She could see the severe depression in those brown eyes of his even though he tried his best to hide it. Being unable to satisfy his hyper libido emotionally hurt him like a knife cutting into his skin. His body craves that sort of intimate action, and this felt like a rejection to him, and Corwin could see that, and it made her feel so guilty that she had no idea what to say to him to comfort his hurt feelings.

"... I understand, Schael. I won't lie to you, it hurts so badly, but I understand," Ralis admitted after a few seconds of silence between them.

Corwin smiled in relief. "Good. Now, where were we?"

Instead of replying with words, Ralis pulled Corwin close to him and they resumed kissing for the next 16 minutes until they fell asleep.

* * *

The few hours passed until dawn, and as expected, all hell broke loose. Ralis and Corwin awoke upon hearing someone blowing a fanfare horn loudly, and the sound of swords clashing in the distance, and shouts of men and women in combat.

"Oh no! They're here! We better get going!" Ralis exclaimed to Corwin.

"Hell of a wake-up call!" Corwin exclaimed sarcastically as she put on her armored boots.

She and Ralis dressed into their armor as quickly as they possibly could, then equipped their weapons on their persons and bolted out the tent, Ralis coming out first with Corwin close behind him.

Outside the tent, the early morning sun rising up to the sky from the east brought light to the cloud covered sky, but the smell of burning fire and the sounds of combat somewhere in the camp or outside the camp's perimeter did not inspire confidence in them.

"We better get going and see where we are needed!" Corwin exclaimed to Ralis after seeing several Flaming Fist soldiers rush to the combat zone with their weapons drawn.

"I hope we're not too late!" Ralis exclaimed, then he and Corwin followed the Flaming Fist soldiers to the center of the coalition camp, the section where Daggerford's military is stationed.

There, Ralis and Corwin ran into Corporal Bence Duncan who is giving quick instructions to the Flaming Fist soldiers scrambling to the combat zone. Ralis could see the anxiety on Duncan's face. Whatever the Crusade is up to has got him very nervous for some reason. Ralis thought he heard Duncan say "get those barrels out", or something of the sort, but he couldn't clearly hear Duncan's voice standing thirteen feet away from him with the sounds of combat nearby and the scent of smoke coming from burning fire somewhere in the camp. After receiving their instructions from Duncan, the soldiers ran to the northern parts of the camp, and Ralis and Corwin found the opportunity to speak to Duncan.

"Ralis! Captain Corwin! The crusade attacks! The northern edge of the camp's aflame!" Duncan exclaimed with sheer urgency in his voice.

Ralis gasped with his mouth wide open.

 _They set fire to part of the camp already?!_

He couldn't believe what he had heard, and Corwin is equally shocked.

"What should we do, Corporal?" Corwin asked, trying to stay calm under pressure.

"Head north with the soldiers. Some are sent to deliver Phossey's barrels to the southern parts of the camp while the rest are fighting off the crusade. Protect those barrels at all costs! Don't let a single spark of fire get on them!" Duncan exclaimed.

"Right!" Ralis and Corwin gave a curt but respectful nod at Duncan before running north with the dozens of Waterdeep and Flaming Fist soldiers rushing to the fray with them.

It didn't take long for Ralis and Corwin to see the flames ahead in the distance above the bobbing heads of the running soldiers in front of them. Already more than a dozen tents have been set aflame by the crusaders, the smoke from the fires ominously rising up towards the morning sky, and the soldiers ahead of them immediately engaged the crusaders pouring in from the camp's entrance, weapons drawn and shouting war cries.

"Corwin, where are they?! Where is Neera and the others?!" Ralis exclaimed to Corwin, frantically turning his head left and right, looking for signs of his companions amidst the battle.

He caught a glimpse of Dorn almost effortlessly cutting down a few crusaders in combat with a few Daggerford and Flaming Fist soldiers near Waizahb's tent which is already on fire like the other tents around it, but he didn't see anyone else he recognized in the crowd of people clashing steel.

"Never mind them, Ralis! The mission must take priority! We need to get to Phossey's tent!" Corwin reminded him.

Since they are partially in the northeastern portion of the coalition camp, they must go directly west to the northwestern portion of the coalition camp to Phossey's tent. Ralis and Corwin weaved their way past seemingly countless numbers of allied soldiers in melee combat against crusaders of various races and genders. Ralis saw one crusader throw a Potion of Explosion at a tent, igniting it in flames. Occasionally a few crusaders chose to engage Ralis and Corwin in battle. The first crusader to challenge Ralis, a half-elf woman with short reddish orange hair with no helmet protecting her head but clad in +2 chainmail armor with the crusade emblem tattooed on the left side of her face, dual wielding two #1 longswords in her hands came charging at him shouting: " _Die for the Shining Lady's cause!_ " in Elvish instead of Common.

She came at him swinging her swords in a rage-like fashion, but expertly, and Ralis dodged, ducked, parried and tried slashing back when he found the opportunity, causing her to respond with her own impressive agility at dodging and parrying his attacks. Before Corwin attempted to assist Ralis, she noticed from the corner of her right eye a crusader aiming a shortbow at her simply twelve feet away. As soon as Corwin reflexively turned her torso towards the would-be attacker and leveled her longbow up to aim at the crusader, presumably a human since his face is covered by the visor of his helmet, then seconds before he or she could fire, a halfling woman, Clovista, snuck up behind the crusader and stabbed him in the leg, causing him to misfire his shot, and as luck would have it at a time like this, the arrow flew at the half-elf crusader Ralis is currently fighting and the arrow's sharp triangular head lodged itself into the side of the woman's waist. She recoiled and shrieked in pain, giving Ralis the opportunity to attack, creating a fatal gash on her body. When she fell to the ground dead, Ralis and Corwin continued running through the crowds of fighting soldiers, trying to make their way to Phossey's tent. They were waylaid by a few more crusaders, but Ralis and Corwin did not fight them alone, a five Waterdeep soldiers and two Daggerford soldiers assisted them, and the only allied casualties after the fight were three Waterdeep soldiers and only one of the Daggerford soldiers.

"This way! Go!" One of the Waterdeep soldiers exclaimed to Corwin and Ralis, leading them down the trail towards the northwestern part of the camp.

A surprise attack came almost immediately after taking thirteen steps away from the spot Ralis fought the half-elf crusader. The attack first came as a crossbow bolt quickly flying toards the helmeted head of a Waterdeep soldier running ahead of Ralis.

"Gaaagh!" Ralis heard the soldier ahead of him cry out when the crossbow bolt pierced his neck, causing a few drops of blood to fly out the wound the quarrel made, and he sagged to the ground like a rag doll. Ralis did a double take towards the direction the crossbow bolt came from and immediately crouched.

" _Ambush! Get down!_ " He exclaimed, dropping his bastard swords, pulling out his longbow and notching one of the void-tipped arrows while Corwin and the few Waterdeep soldiers opened fire towards the exposed entrance of the coalition camp.

They saw five archers approaching them, one armed with a heavy crossbow in the process of reloading, and the other four armed with longbows, and behind them, four crusaders armed with various melee weapons. Ralis quickly took aim at the archer to the left from the archer Corwin managed to shoot down with her own arrow and fired. The void-tipped arrow flew fifteen feet towards the target and the arrowhead neatly pierced the breastplate of the archer's armor, where the insignia of the crusade is printed, and the target sagged to the ground immediately after letting out a scream of pain. The other three archers managed to open fire, killing the last Daggerford soldier assisting Ralis and Corwin, but missing the last two Waterdeep soldiers. The Waterdeep soldiers let their arrows fly, killing two archers, and Corwin shot down the last one. Now the melee fighters that were behind the felled archers came charging into the camp towards Ralis and Corwin, two male humans, a female gnome and a female dwarf, none of them wore a helmet, the dwarf woman wielded a mace as a weapon while the others had swords varying from short swords to longswords.

Before they could get close to Ralis, Corwin and the two surviving Waterdeep soldiers, five Flaming Fist soldiers jumped in, attacking the five crusaders.

"Go! We got you covered!" A Flaming Fist mercenary exclaimed to Ralis and Corwin.

Wasting no time with a "thank you," Ralis and Corwin continued running towards the northwestern part of the coalition camp, racing by many burning tents, and cutting down any crusader that got in their way, but Ralis had to pick up his swords first before leaving. Less than seven seconds later, they were waylaid by a couple more crusaders. Ralis was forced to fight an elite crusader, a middle aged human man with a thick orange beard, bright green eyes and short hair, and Corwin battled against a gnoll armed with a halberd. Ralis and the elite crusader squared off for a few seconds, then clashed swords, dodging and parrying. This man is one of the most experienced fighters in the crusade, a veteran of one of the Dragonspear Wars, Ralis could tell that he shouldn't take his opponent lightly, who has many years of experience in combat. Corwin, however, had a somewhat easier fight on her hands. Even though she only had a short sword for melee combat, she knew that if she played her cards right, she can beat this monster. The gnoll snarled, saliva dripping form its fangs, then it stabbed forward with its halberd, which Corwin swiftly dodged, and then she crouched to avoid a backhand swing from the gnoll's right arm.

"Stand still, frail human!" The gnoll snarled as he tried to strike Corwin again with his halberd, which Corwin lithely dodged again.

When the gnoll attempted to strike Corwin again for the third time, Corwin crouched, then lunged for the gap between the gnoll's legs, and slid on her back under the creature. When she came up behind the unsuspecting gnoll, she reached into her pocket and threw a dagger straight at the gnoll's back, stunning him, then Corwin stabbed the beast in the back with her short sword, and the gnoll collapsed dead.

Ralis and the elite crusader were still fighting even after Corwin finished off her opponent, but fortunately she jumped in the fight to assist him. The elite crusader, knowing that he has orders to subdue, not kill the hero of Baldur's Gate struggled trying to find a way to disable Ralis and at the same time, get rid of Corwin. He is only armed with a broadsword, but he managed to find a pattern to keep himself alive. Parry one of Ralis's swords, dodge Corwin's sword, back away a few feet, let one of them come to him, attack that one, dodge the other, alternate between offense and defense, then when the opportunity comes, kick Ralis back so that he'll have time to finish off Corwin. The crusader could tell that Corwin's strength is in archery, she has less experience in melee combat. After dodging an overhead swing form Corwin's sword, the elite crusader stepped back a couple feet away form Corwin and Ralis, and as he expected, Ralis came up to him first, and in that split second before Ralis could swing one of his swords, the crusader kicked Ralis in the chest, sending him reeling back several feet, then the crusader turned his attention to Corwin and engaged her.

Ralis recovered from the stunning blow and took this opportunity to use his Bhaalspawn ability to cast Call Upon Holy Might on himself to enhance his physical strength, then he came at the elite crusader, breaking his broadsword in half when he tried to parry, then Ralis stabbed Albruin into the crusader's chest, and slashed Severance at the neck, causing the crusader to spin down towards the ground with blood gushing from his neck. Then Ralis and Corwin continued on to their destination.

When they reached Phossey's tent, they were relieved to see that it is one of the few tents in the northern edge of the coalition camp that has not caught on fire yet, but still the fires are close to the tents that haven't burned yet. But what worried them is that they saw a dozen Waterdeep and Flaming Fist soldiers carrying many barrels that resemble the barrel of Bwoosh Phossey gave to them before.

"What are they doing?" Ralis asked Corwin.

"They are moving Phossey's barrels to a safe location. But why?" Corwin replied.

One of the Flaming Fist soldiers noticed Corwin and Ralis watching them.

"Captain! You! We got to move these barrels to a safe location before the crusaders find us!" He exclaimed.

Then almost as if on cue, a half-orc crusader woman appeared from behind an unburned tent nearby Ralis and Corwin.

"I've found them! Over here!" The half-orc woman exclaimed, running away before Corwin could take a shot.

"Oh, dammit all! Get ready!" Flaming Fist lieutenant Otilda exclaimed to her ten Flaming Fist soldiers alongside Waterdeep commander Halasaan, the same officer Ralis helped shape up a few new recruits the other day.

"Let's show these crusader pansies what we're made of!" Halasaan gripped her broadsword tightly.

Not long afterwards, almost more than a dozen crusaders armed with all kinds of melee weapons emerged from the cluster of unburned tents and engaged Otilda and Halasaan's forces in battle, trying to reach the soldiers carrying the barrels away from the fight. And still, none of Ralis' companions like Khalid and Rasaad are nowhere to be seen.

Ralis and Corwin jumped into the fight, battling the crusaders. Some of the crusaders who fought Ralis recognized him as the hero of Baldur's Gate and held back, knowing that Caelar needs him alive to open the portal under Dragonspear Castle. Ralis used that to his advantage, cutting down the crusaders who were unsure of how to subdue him without killing him. Some of the crusaders managed to make superficial cuts on his arms with their blades, but after stabbing his opponents with the sword Severance, the wounds they inflicted on Ralis healed up. The sounds of battle rung loudly in his ears as he continued fighting, swords clashing, the crackling of burning fire, shouting, screaming, he had never been in an all-out war before, so much noise and activity happening all at once all around him, he found it difficult to figure out who will attack him and where. The crusaders fought with great ferocity against Otilda and Halasaan's forces, slashing at the necks of their adversaries, stabbing their swords, spears or javelins into hearts, battle axes dismembering arms, legs or heads, and maces and morningstars crushing head like grapes whether they are protected by their helmets or not. A male dwarf of Daggerford's army threw an axe at a crusader, and the sharp end nearly cleaved the crusader's head in half. Halasaan's body armor became stained with blood as the fight progressed, but she persevered.

* * *

The fight to defend the soldiers carrying the barrels away lasted no more than eight minutes. By that moment the soldiers carrying the barrels are in the southern parts of the campsite now, and everyone in the coalition camp has defeated Caelar's shock troops, giving them maybe 20 minutes of reprieve, but they all knew that there will be a few more waves of crusaders attacking them soon. Corwin, Ralis, Otilda, Halasaan and their surviving soldiers regrouped at the southern center of the coalition camp, close to the tent where Nederlok, Stonehand and deLancie strategize recon missions and other things. There, Ralis found the rest of his companions, Edwin, Dorn and Baeloth included, along with 30 Waterdeep soldiers, nine Daggerford soldiers, and 38 Flaming Fist soldiers. More soldiers were coming too, since the crusade's attack has been repelled for now.

"What's going on? Where's Nederlok, Stonehand and deLancie?" Ralis demanded to everyone.

At that moment, a mage, a human woman stepped forward from behind Rasaad and a human male Daggerford Soldier wearing a helmet that does not cover his face. She has dark blonde hair, fair skin, slightly low dimples, thin chin and dark green eyes, and her robes matched the colors of the Flaming Fist uniform.

"Never mind where they are, we have more serious problems," she told Ralis in a sense of urgency.

"And just who are you?" Ralis asked her.

"I am Andrus, Corporal Duncan's most trusted mage. We need help defending these barrels, it is important for our survival," the mage replied.

"Why?" Ralis asked.

Andrus gestured over to the barrels that are being set down inside a tent behind her.

"When Phossey refined those barrels into the barrel of Bwoosh, she was left with highly unstable, toxic residue. We were thinking of using it as a weapon against the crusade, but if the fire reaches the barrels or if the crusade sets just one of the barrels aflame, we'll all be killed," Andrus explained.

"I won't let that happen, it's going to be all right. Who's leading these troops?" Ralis asked.

Then a human man named Garrus, wearing full plate mail armor with the Daggerford insignia on the breastplate stepped forward.

"You are, sir," he told Ralis. "While the commanders oversee the troops, you can use us to defend the camps."

Ralis felt his heart lurch.

 _I'm commanding the troops? But I have no military experience!_ Ralis protested silently. Out loud he said: "You chose the wrong man for this job, soldier. I'm a plain, run-of-the-mill adventurer, not a military commander, I have no experience in that role."

Garrus shook his head, clearly somewhat disappointed that the hero of Baldur's Gate doesn't have confidence in himself.

"Your task is simply to help figure out how to best defend our position while Andrus works on stabilizing the toxic residue in the barrels," he said.

Ralis nodded to show that he understood. But one thing that didn't make sense is how do the crusaders know to target Phossey's barrels?

"I have just one question before we get down to business. How the hell do the crusaders know to target the barrels? It's almost as if they know the barrels are unstable and that setting them off will kill us all," he said.

This caused loud murmurs of concern among the soldiers around him.

"He makes a valid point. The enemy should not know our weakness so easily, they have no spies among us," Rasaad said.

"Do we know for sure?" Jaheira asked skeptically.

"A traitor in our ranks... I don't like that," Ralis grumbled.

Andrus eyed Jaheira and nodded at her. "I cannot ignore the possibility, but for now, we must work on repelling the crusaders. Ralis, how should we best defend ourselves?"

Ralis put his hands on his waist and licked his lips. "Uh... well..." he looked around for someone to consult with until he turned his eyes on Garrus.

"You there, soldier, what's your name?" Ralis asked, pointing straight at him.

"My name is Garrus, sir," he replied.

"Right, Garrus. What forces are available to me at the moment?" Ralis asked.

"Well, in addition to my archers, you've got a unit of wizard slayers, one of warmages, and... well, let's just call them special operations."

"Special...?" Ralis repeated in confusion.

"Special operations. It makes stabbing people in the back so glamorous," a human woman named Auziel chimed in, standing behind two Waterdeep soldiers.

"As I recall, when the Flaming Fist first arrived in the camp, you also had a group of dwarves with you. They said they were answering your call for aid against the crusade?" Garrus said.

 _The dwarves of Dumathoin! I forgot about them!_ Ralis smiled. "Of course," Ralis said aloud. "I invited them to come help us fight the crusade after I helped them with their personal problems, and they gladly agreed."

Garrus couldn't help smiling after Ralis explained everything.

"Looks like having the hero of Baldur's Gate with us is paying dividends," he remarked, then turned his attention to Andrus. "Andrus, what's the word of the enemy?"

After the crusade's shock troops had been defeated minutes ago, Andrus set up a magic spell near the camp's entrance called Alarm, an evocation spell that needs a small bell and and slender silver wire to be used. When the crusaders step into the spot where Andrus cast the Alarm spell, she will hear a "ping" noise in her mind, alerting her to the crusaders' presence minutes before they come into view.

"I know they are massing at the camp's entrance, but they haven't made a move yet. When they break through, I'll let you know," Andrus replied to Garrus, then she turned her attention to Ralis. "In the meantime, you can choose which unit to fight with against them."

Ralis nodded and rubbed his hands together.

"All right," he sighed to himself. "I'd like to have everyone's attention for a moment," he raised his voice.

All eyes locked on him, and it made him a bit nervous, being stared down by so many people, waiting on him to announce his strategy.

"I have a plan... sort of. Pretty solid. First and foremost, let's consider what the crusade has in its _arse_ nal... And yes, that was meant to be a joke," Ralis said, causing some of the soldiers to chuckle. It pays off to throw a little bit of humor into a war zone.

"It is possible that the crusade will have a team of wizards and sorcerers at the ready, so those of you who are wizard slayers, I need all of you to be at the ready. Garrus, I want some of your scouts to patrol the western, northern and eastern path to identify what kinds of enemy we'll be facing after they breach the perimeter but _before_ they reach us, then I'll plan ahead from there. I'd rather not charge into a battle blind. So, any questions?" Ralis said.

He looked around, expecting someone to raise their hand, but no one did.

"All right. Neera, Dynaheir, cast Haste on the scouts. They'll need a quick getaway when they see who will be coming down these paths," Ralis instructed.

"Got it!" Neera nodded.

"As thou wish," Dynaheir said.

Three scouts, two from the Flaming Fist, one from Waterdeep two women, one man, stepped towards Neera and Dynaheir, and waited for them to cast the Haste spell on them. Neera placed her hands into her pants pockets, but when she couldn't find what she is looking for, she frowned as she dug her hands deeper into her pockets.

"Uh, I don't have a licorice root, Dynaheir. Do you have a spare?" Neera asked.

Dynaheir nodded and gave Neera a spare shaving of licorice root, a material component necessary for a mage to have in order to cast the Haste spell successfully, then she and Neera began to do the somatic arm movements and say the words needed to cast the spell. Everyone watched as they saw bright blue and cyan colored arcane orbs of energy wash over the three scouts, then almost immediately, one of the Flaming Fist scouts dashed away north towards the western path. The Waterdeep scout went up the middle path, and the other Flaming Fist scout dashed away to the eastern path.

Six minutes passed as everyone prepared their weapons, and the mages made sure they have their spells memorized. Those armed with melee weapons sharpened their swords on a nearby grindstone and such, and those with ranged weapons like slings, crossbows and shortbows or longbows went to Belegarm's shop close by to stock up on arrows. After six minutes had passed, Andrus was the first to learn that the next wave of crusaders have entered the camp, she heard the "ping" noise in her mind, and it almost startled her.

"They're in! They've broken into the camp!" Andrus informed everyone.

Word from Andrus' mouth quickly spread to the 46 Daggerford soldiers, 339 Waterdeep soldiers, and 297 Flaming Fist soldiers gathered in the southern portion of the coalition camp and everyone silently awaited for their scouts to return and inform everyone what sort of army they are facing, coming down towards them from all three paths in the coalition camp. no one could see the crusaders yet, but they heard the not so distant shouts of triumph and their collective footsteps. If the center path was simply straightforward, they would be able to see who is coming. Seconds later, the scout from the western path quickly arrived.

"The crusade's broken through the perimeter! There are trolls all over the western path!" He exclaimed.

Then the other scout who monitored the center path returned.

"We got trouble! The Shining Lady's wizards are in the camp north of here, back the way I came," he exclaimed.

Then the third scout came dashing back in the blink of an eye.

"Crusade footsoldiers are storming in from the east!" She exclaimed, her face visibly sweating.

"All right, people, we now know who we're facing! Captain Corwin, Khalid, Jaheira, Rasaad, Voghiln and Raypheus, I want the five of you to lead the archers! Set your arrows aflame and drive the trolls back!" Ralis declared with the bravado of a commander who knows what he is doing.

"Got it!" Corwin nodded.

"Y-y-yes!" Khalid nodded.

"By your command!" Jaheira said.

"You can trust the Lion of Luskan, mine friend," Voghiln nodded with enthusiasm.

"I shall honor your request," Rasaad said with a nod.

Ralis nodded gratefully to them and watched as they led 33 archers up the western path.

"Next, I want Edwin, Baeloth, Neera, Pfaug, M'Khiin and Glint to support Stysich and his wizard slayer fighters in repelling the crusade wizards! I know wizard slayers are meant to slay wizards, but be prepared for the unexpected!" Ralis said.

Edwin grunted in disgust. "Don't get used to ordering me around, monkey peon!" He snapped.

"Why me?" Baeloth argued to Ralis. "I am more accustomed to being an entertainer, not being part of the entertainment!"

"Well, there's a first time for everything. Get out there!" Ralis shot back.

"There's much crusade mage blood to be shed. What do you think? Weave-cleavers! Follow me!" Stysich exclaimed to his fellow wizard slayers, holding his sword up high, then he led the charge.

Baeloth, Neera, Glint, Pfaug, M'Khiin followed Stysich and his group of 35 wizard slayers up the middle path, with Baeloth groaning in daisdain. Fighting a war isn't his style.

"You are afraid of dying, aren't you, night skin?" M'Khiin asked Baeloth, smiling at him while Ralis was barking orders to the next group of people.

Baeloth's face wrinkled in disdain even more. "Ugh... That's putting it rather bluntly. Being forced to fight in a war against my will is an injurious injustice that I cannot tolerate. I have an agenda that I prefer to live and see come to fruition," he said.

The goblin grunted in derision. "You talk about rights, but only when your own life is at risk. Your rights don't matter, just like my rights don't matter to you, or anyone else... except maybe Ralis. Now you know how I felt, before we met him, back when you used me for your entertainment show," M'Khiin said.

Baeloth knew what M'Khiin was talking about, and thinking of how correct she is put a bad taste in his mouth.

"Aghh... If you are expecting some sort of heartfelt apology from me, then allow me to be candid and make a sordid statement. ... _No."_

While the wizard slayers, Baeloth, Neera, Glint, Dynaheir and M'Khiin were walking away, Ralis started to give orders to the next group.

"All right, I want Viconia, Safana, Dynaheir, Minsc, Dorn, and the dwarves of Dumathoin to accompany me on the eastern path! Are you ready, Brother Deepvein? Let's go!" He instructed.

Deepvein smiled excitedly then turned to his fellow dwarves.

"Ye heard him, lads. Hammer those crusaders like Ralis did that scaffbag toley Coldhearth!" He exclaimed to them, and they began to march.

Ralis took the lead, pulling out both swords from their scabbards and adamantly led the way toward the eastern path, going north with his chosen companions and the team of dwarven clerics behind him.

* * *

Two minutes after the squads split up, Corwin, Khalid, Jaheira, Rasaad, Raypheus and the squad of archers armed with arrows of fire crossed paths with the troll army. The two opposing armies stopped, leaving a fourteen foot gap between them. There are fifteen forest trolls, accompanied by three ogres. Two of them wore the standard silver and white uniform over their splint body armor, but the ogre in the center, in front of the army, who is apparently the leader, wore a silver and crimson version of the crusader uniform over his body armor. The ogre's name is Yarok, and he appeared to be the most physically intimidating ogre among his ogre peers flanking him.

As for Stysich and his wizard slayers accompanied by Neera, Glint, M'Khiin, Edwin, Baeloth, Pfaug, they had just encountered the crusader wizard army. Forty-one mages, 30 humans, 5 gnomes, 6 half-elves and led by one mage, a human man named Cuvieronius, armed with a short sword in his right hand and a silver and blue buckler attached to his right arm signifying he is a dual classed mage and fighter, their robes in the silver and white colors of Caelar's crusade.

Meanwhile on the far eastern path, Ralis and his chosen squad have just crossed paths with the crusade's team of elite crusaders and loyal mercenaries known as the Soldiers of the Burning Ray, consisting of 38 individuals, 18 humans, 8 dwarves, 7 half-elves and 5 halflings, all led by a bronze-skinned half-elf woman who is of Tethyrian descent in her human ancestry and gold elf descent in her elf ancestry named Rhayla, sporting golden blond hair, copper eyes, dressed in charcoal black full plate body armor and a tower shield that is completely black as her armor, wielding a longsword with a wide crossguard and she wore no helmet, except for the 37 individuals behind her.

"Kill 'em all! If it lives, crush it!" Yarok exclaimed to his fellow ogres and troll army.

"Archers ready!" Corwin shouted.

The archers readied their arrows.

"Kill them! Slay all those who stand against Caelar's light!" Yarok growled, holding his large mace ready for swinging.

"Smite Caelar's enemies! Let them be consumed by the power wielded by we who serve the Shining Lady!" Cuvieronius exclaimed, holding his sword high.

"No matter how much power you claim to wield, wizard, you are no match for us wizard slayers! Men! Stain the ground red with the wizards' blood!" Stysich exclaimed.

Cuvieronius visibly flinched after he heard Stysich exclaim who his warriors are.

"Slayers! Damn it all!" He cursed under his breath. "Beware, the fiends send wizard slayers against us!" He warned his fellow mages.

"Soldiers of the Burning Ray! These villains stand against our lady- let them pay the price for their wickedness!" Rhayla exclaimed.

Hearing these crusaders sanctimoniously proclaim him and his allies as wicked villains greatly annoyed Ralis' like hearing fingernails scratching a chalkboard.

"Only the gods may judge mortals, crusader. Not Caelar Argent, and certainly not you," Ralis shot back at Rhayla.

In outrage, Rhayla pointed her sword at Ralis. "In Caelar's name, cut the infidel down!"

In almost the exact same moment, three fights, taking place in three different pathways in the coalition camp broke out. Corwin and the archers opened fire on the charging trolls. Three arrows hit three trolls in the head, killing them, the other arrows lodged themselves into a troll's arm, chest or abdomen. Then when Corwin and the archers needed time to ready more of their arrows, Khalid, Jaheira, Rasaad, Voghiln and Raypheus rushed forward to meet the trolls and engaged them in melee combat. Rasaad, however, cast used Sun Soulray on a troll, setting its body on fire before he entered melee combat.

"Yaaah!" Voghiln exclaimed, charging at a troll directly in front of him, swinging Kondar in his left hand, and swinging his war axe in his right hand.

The troll was caught off guard the moment Kondar's blade cut across its chest, then it swung its right arm towards Voghiln, its hand rolled up into a fist for a swift punch, and around that moment, Voghiln was following up his sword strike with a strike from his war axe, he swung the war axe towards the troll's right arm, cutting off its right arm close to the elbow, and the troll shrieked in pain. At that immediate moment, Rasaad, his hands ablaze with fire, expertly dodged the swings of the trolls arms, and punched and kicked the creature with a flurry of combos, to the face and abdomen. Rasaad's fiery hands obviously hurt the troll with each punch, the troll had extreme difficulty trying to endure the pain and fight back against the monk. Khalid, Jaheira and Raypheus fought alongside each other fighting like a well-coordinated team, alternating their attacks, trying to keep the trolls and ogres confused and guessing who would attack first. Corwin, Garrus and the archers only fired their arrows at the trolls when the opportunity presented itself- they took great care not to shoot Voghiln, Rasaad, Raypheus, Khalid or Jaheira by mistake. Khalid eventually wound up fighting Yarok with Voghiln's assistance when the number of trolls was chopped down to thirteen. Yarok wasn't used to fighting two opponents at once, especially with archers firing arrows at him.

Since Voghiln does not have a shield, Khalid acted primarily as the distraction, blocking Yarok's strikes with his mace using his shield even though Khalid's left arm ached every time a blow from the mace landed on his shield. Voghiln focused mostly on being offensive, attacking Yarok when he is focused on trying to attack Khalid, or dodging his sword striks while trying to dodge Corwin's arrows. Each time an arrow struck Yarok, it was either in the chest or on the arm, and the pain from the burning arrowheads cooking the inside of his flesh was too much for him to endure. Khalid and Voghiln eventually felled him, and minutes later the rest of the trolls were eventually defeated. They succumbed fairly quickly to the fire arrows. Corwin and the others won the battle in less than nine minutes.

Cuvieronius and his mages knew they are in deep trouble. Non-barbarian wizard slayers have innate resistance to magic. Before the assault he planned to have his front row line of mages cast the Deafness spell on enemy mages to render their spellcasting ability useless and cast Blindness on those that are not known to be resistant to magic. Disabling the enemy before attacking them, that was his plan. Fighting wizard slayers changes things. Seconds before Stysich ordered his archers to shoot spirit arrows, Cuvieronius had an idea.

"Magic missiles! Front row! Fire!" He exclaimed.

Almost immediately, he and his mages threw a large volley of magic missiles at the wizard slayers. Since they cannot cripple the wizard slayers using magic spells, they have no choice but to use simple magic spells meant only to physically harm a target like magic missiles. Some of the wizard slayer archers managed to shoot a few arrows before the magic missiles brought them down. Half of the wizard slayer archers were either injured from getting hit by a magic missile or dead.

"Fighters, attack!" Stysich exclaimed, pointing his longsword forward, then he led the fighters running towards the mages.

"Let's give them a hand, Glint. Are ya ready?" Neera said.

"Ready when you are," Glint replied, standing by her right as the fighters came running towards the mages who are casting the Stoneskin spell to protect themselves from a quick and humiliating death.

Neera and Glint cast the Bless spell on as much wizard slayers as they could, and no wild surges happened. M'Khiin was already at work doing her shaman dance, calling spirits and asking them for their assistance. Baeloth, however, did nothing. Edwin, however did something- he cast the Blur spell on himself, likely to protect himself from magic missiles. Neera couldn't help looking back at him and snorting in disgust.

"What? Mind your own business, half fey monkey!" Edwin grunted in annoyance.

"Second row! Fire!" Cuvieronius shouted, and the second row of lined up mages fired magic missiles, killing or knocking down a few more wizard slayer fighters just seconds before they got close enough to engage Cuvieronius and the front row mages in melee combat.

Since Cuvieronius is the only half fighter half mage and armed with a sword and buckler he fared better than his front row cohorts, who only had daggers and dirks for melee combat. However, even though he is protected by the Stoneskin spell, making his skin difficult for Stysich, Pfaug and every wizard slayer fighter's swords to penetrate, he still suffered many superficial wounds while fighting dozens of wizard slayers and an angry duergar mercenary on his own, even managing to kill five to six of them in the process, excluding Stysich and Pfaug. The third and fourth row of mages further back that have time to cast a spell or two cast magic missiles on the wizard slayers fighting Cuvieronius and cutting down the mages who were in the first and second row with extreme prejudice. The few mages that didn't cast magic missiles instead had the idea to give the wizard slayers more enemies to fight by using the Summon Monster spell. Five mages cast Summon Monster 2, conjuring up two giant scorpions, seven wolves, five monstrous spiders and four honey badgers. The giant scorpions and honey badgers were ferocious fighters, stinging and biting every wizard slayer they could. Edwin and Neera put a stop to that using magic missiles and the Flame Arrow spell on the giant scorpions. They never bothered trying to attack the honey badgers because they were too small targets, but despite their size, they are fearless, attacking wizard slayers, trying to climb up to their faces and claw and bite their faces. One honey badger managed to climb up to Pfaug's face and scratch him up!He was saved by Glint who bludgeoned the animal with his mace.

At the moment the mages ordered their summoned monsters to attack their enemies, M'Khiin managed to summon seven spirits- two grizzly bears, three goblin warriors and two allosaurus, which was a big bonus for the wizard slayers because the ghostly dinosaurs aggressively tore down the remaining mages and their summoned monsters with their teeth and claws like they normally would in life. If fact, it was one of the allosaurus ghosts that killed Cuvieronius, mauling him and tearing at his hardened skin until he either passed out or died from loss of too much blood.

"Hmm. I guess the goblin is good for something," Edwin said.

The fight against the mages lasted a minute longer than Corwin and the others have against the trolls.

The fight against the Burning Ray soldiers proved to be very bloody. Ralis immediately engaged Rhayla in combat while everyone else selected their own opponent.

"Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes! _RAAAAGHHH!_ " Minsc roared as he charged forward towards two dwarf elite crusaders with his broadsword ready for a strong swing.

Five of Brother Deepvein's dwarven battleragers means five dwarves going berserk like Minsc would, which is what made this battle bloody- Rhayla's elite crusaders have a tough fight on their hands, especially with Minsc letting loose. Deepvein engaged a human crusader elite, Dorn engaged a group of crusader cavaliers by himself. Dynaheir cast Bless on her allies, then proceeded to throw sling bullets at the crusaders with Safana next to her, firing arrows at clerics attempting to heal the injured. Ralis found that despite Rhayla holding a tower shield, she is a tough opponent with great strength and quick reflexes. He tried to get around her shield, slashing at it with his swords to keep her on the defensive, but every few seconds she would attempt to go offensive for a few seconds when he least expected it, striking at him with her sword, then jumping up and trying to kick him in the face while in midair, and landing gracefully in a defensive posture. Ralis could only assume that she must have drank a Potion of Frost Giant Strength, there's no way a half-elf woman can move so fluidly holding a tower shield and wearing heavy armor without getting winded. Ralis knew that he should focus on trying not to wear himself out, as attacking Rhayla's tower shield when she hides behind it will make no difference. The only way to beat her is to outsmart her somehow.

Viconia didn't enter melee combat until she cast the Slow spell on a few crusader elites while being protected by three of Deepvein's battleragers, who fought off two human elite crusaders trying to get at Viconia trying to stop her from casting a spell. The Slow spell managed to slow the reflexes of the two elite crusaders attacking her dwarf bodyguards and Rhayla who is still fighting Ralis since they are the closest to where Viconia is standing, and the battle ragers made quick work of the elite crusaders who were slowed to turtle speed, then the battleragers and Viconia charged into the fray, helping the others whittle down the number of elite crusaders and crusader clerics. Viconia was brutal with her mace, she dodged the overhead swing of a crusader cavalier then stabbed her mace straight towards his abdomen, bruising his body armor and also bruising his stomach and intestines, causing him to vomit partially digested contents as he sagged to the ground, then Viconia cracked his head like a grape with her mace before he could collapse after he fell on his knees, and Minsc was still going wild, yet not in berserk mode, overpowering anyone that dared to fight him

Rhayla realized that her reflexes have been slowed when she attempted to strike Ralis with her sword. Ralis realized this unexpected advantage and quickly stepped to Rhayla's side, dodging the sword, and Rhayla had a horrified look on her face when Ralis stabbed Albruin into the side of her ribcage. She collapsed on top of her tower shield dead as dead can get. The rest of the crusaders were killed 34 seconds after Rhyala fell to Ralis' swords.

* * *

After all three battles on all three paths were won, everyone returned to the southern portion of the coalition camp. Ralis noticed that the teams he sent to the other paths have suffered some minor losses, but have won their battles. Everyone is exhausted and tired, even though the cool winter air offered them some form of comfort, especially for those sweating inside their body armor, Ralis and Minsc being one of them.

"So, that's it? Did we win?" Neera called out, not caring about the people who cast appalled frowns at her.

Ralis ran over to the tent where Andrus is trying to stabilize the barrels of bwoosh.

"Andrus! We defeated the first three waves of the crusade's attack. Any progress with those barrels?" Ralis asked her.

Andrus slammed her right fist down on one of the barrels and cursed in Damaran.

"No! Damn that dwarf!" She turned around to look at Ralis, her fair skinned face red in anger. "I've not been able to disarm the explosives yet. Heal and rearm yourself if you're able- the crusade will be upon us again sooner or later," she instructed him.

Ralis nodded and stepped out of the tent.

Ten minutes have passed, and during those ten minutes, every injured soldier looked to a cleric for healing, then the fourth wave of crusaders came down the center path. Ralis, his party and the dwarves of Dumathoin pushed them back, defeating them. Then another ten minutes later, the 5th wave of crusaders showed up. Not as much as the previous waves, and mostly standard crusade soldiers. The sixth wave of crusaders showed up fifteen minutes later after the fifth wave was defeated, and after the current wave of crusaders had been killed, Andrus too notice that the crusaders are not attacking the crusader camp in great numbers like during the first three waves. When Ralis and his party and the soldiers of Dumathoin returned from defeating the sixth wave of crusaders Andrus decided to stop trying to stabilize the barrels and tell Ralis what they must do to permanently end the assault on the coalition camp.

"The attacks are slowing. We should use the moment to finish the crusaders off before more reinforcements arrive. If we push hard now, we can rout them," Andrus told Ralis.

Ralis frowned skeptically. "Are you sure this will work? We can't keep going like this. If this fight keeps up, we won't have enough men for the assault on Dragonspear Castle," he said.

"I know, but this is the only way we'll survive the battle so we can prepare for the bigger battle. Go north and finish off the remaining warriors there. go now and win this battle for us!" Andrus said.

"Got it! But first... Anyone got a bottle of water?" Ralis said.

A Daggerford soldier threw a glass bottle of water to ralis nad he caught it. After drinking all of it, he said: "Now I'm ready. Let's do this!" He led his entire party towards the center path, going north. Dorn was walking beside Safana, and she was grimacing the while time, because Dorn's sweaty body smells almost as bad as the stench of a skunk's liquid.

"I've held my tongue so far, but I've reached my limit. The half-orc reeks of sweat and blood," Safana complained to Ralis up ahead. "I can't be the only one who thinks so, can I?" Safana looked to everyone else when Ralis didn't reply.

"I assure you, there are worse things to smell in this world than I, dear lady? Perhaps you are not meant for a life of adventure," Dorn said to Safana.

Safana looked at Dorn and covered her nose and mouth with her left hand. "I meant for a life of luxury, and I've made no secret of it. But I'd settle for one not permeated with the stench of _DEATH_. It wouldn't kill you to take a bath."

"While Caelar lives, we have more important things to do than bathe," Dorn rebuffed her.

Safana frowned incredulously. "If we can't spare even a moment to clean ourselves, then the crusaders have won."

Dorn blinked, then frowned in utter confusion. "That makes no sense!"

"... I was hoping you wouldn't notice that. Bloody hells. Someone give me a drink," Safana groaned shamefully.

"It is a drink you are wanting? Voghiln is there for you!" Voghiln said proudly, giving Safana a bottle of Berduskan Dark wine.

Safana casually took the bottle without question or protest, then drank it, not even bothering to ask Voghiln where he got it.

* * *

When they reached the northern portion of the coalition camp, they found seven crusader mercenaries standing near the camp's exit. Their names are Bird-Dog, Turalynn, Lannac, Orleth Blackfinger, Kegleg, Piercer of Boils and Grimgor. Kegleg is a male hobgoblin dressed in splint armor and wearing a helmet, Turalynn is a female elf ranger, Orleth is a male human mage dressed in black robes with star patterns on them, Bird-Dog is a male half-elf fighter, Lannac is a female human cleric of Talos, Piercer of Boils is a male orc mage, and Grimgor is a male orog dressed in heavy black body armor like Rhayla, holding a flail in his right hand and a big black shield on his right arm, with a dark burning fireball painted on the shield. Orogs are a species of orcs that dwell in the Underdark, like the drow, duergar and deep gnomes. They look like mountain orcs, but origs are slightly taller, male orogs range from six feet to six feet and eight inches tall. Grimgor is 6'7.

They didn't immediately notice Ralis and his party, they were busy checking the bodies of dead crusaders, Flaming Fist, Waterdeep and Daggerford soldiers, likely under the impression that the crusaders have killed everyone in the coalition camp, since they have no way of knowing that everyone has gathered in the southern parts of the camp. When Grimgor turned his head to see Ralis and his party silently watching them, he visibly flinched, apparently surprised to see survivors.

"The camp still stands? IMPOSSIBLE! Crush these unworthy peons where they stand!" Grimgor ordered his party.

Before his party could draw their weapons, Ralis quickly spoke up.

"The camp stands because I yet stand, orog. If you would see it fall, first you must go through me!" He said.

Grimgor gave a hand signal to his allies to calm down. He took stepped forward a few inches, his eyes glued on Ralis because he has a feeling he has seen this human before somewhere. It didn't take long for the realization to dawn on him that this human is the legendary hero of Baldur's Gate.

"The hero of Baldur's Gate," Grimgor declared with an amused grin. "You are known to Grimgor. Your head will make a worthy trophy for Caelar after I am finished with you."

Ralis shook his head. "Have you been misinformed, you idiot? Caelar doesn't want my head, she wants me alive. If you kill me, she will be angry at you rather than pleased. Besides, I am not interested in fighting any of you. I didn't want any of this bloodshed, but I cannot let Caelar's madness go unchecked," he said.

"It's not too late to run, Grimgor. You still have a chance to survive this," Corwin said.

"He's right," Bird-Dog said to Grimgor.

"What in the...?!" Grimgor gasped in surprised.

"Orders are to kill the soldiers in this campsite and take the hero of Baldur's Gate alive. All the crusaders sent to assault the camp are dead except us. What chance do we have of taking the hero alive? Screw the gold, I'm gone," Bird-Dog said, dropping his sword and walking away out of the camp.

"What? Where are you going, you coward?!"

"He's right, you know. We got no chance. I'd rather be poor yet alive than rich yet dead," Lannac said, then walked out of the camp.

"Have you idiots lost your nerves?!" Grimgor exclaimed.

"No," Ralis said. "They just have more sense than you."

"You're on your own, pal," Kegleg gave Grimgor a pat on the back before turning his back on the orog and leaving.

"Kegleg! You too?!" Grimgor couldn't believe his fellow crusader mercenaries were walking away from the biggest bounty in their career!

Piercer of Boils, Orleth and Turalynn were the last three mercenaries out of the camp.

"If you fight him, Grimgor, no one will mourn you, not even us," Orleth said.

Grimgor began to growl in anger, throwing his big shield down in frustration.

"Grrr... _Cowards... Traitors... all of you!_ " He screamed in rage, brandishing his flail, making the spiked ball spin on the chain, then charged towards Orleth, Piercer and Turalynn.

Ralis was about to shout a warning to them, but he was a second too late. By the time Orleth turned around, Grimgor brought the spiked ball down on the mage's head, and blood splashed into the faces of Piercer of Boils and Turalynn.

"Oh my gods!" Orleth yelled in terror.

Turalynn was already running, trying to catch up with Kegleg and Bird-Dog.

Grimgor crushed Orleth before he could make a move. He didn't bother trying to chase after Turalynn, instead, he turned back to face Ralis and his party and he charged at them. Ralis had enough seconds to pull his longbow out, notch a void-tipped arrow, aim at Grimgor, and fire. The ebony arrow flew nine yards towards Grimgor before the arrowhead punched through the breastplate of his armor and punctured his heart. Grimgor stumbled to the ground, wheezing as if he had been completely deprived of air while he tried to use his arms to lift his body up off the ground, and he quickly expired, collapsing to the ground, burying his face into the dirt.

"Stubborn fool. He should've ran..." Ralis muttered as he lowered his longbow towards the ground.

"He wanted to die a warrior, rather than live a coward," Dorn commented.

Ralis looked over at the half-orc.

"What's the difference? He wanted to fight a battle he couldn't win," Ralis said. "His allies walked away from him, yet he still wanted to fight."

"You don't understand the life of a mercenary, do you, Ralis," Dorn asked him.

Ralis shook his head in disdain. "No, and I don't want a lesson," he said.

A few minutes later, everyone that survived regrouped at the northern areas of the camp, and almost every soldier applauded them for pushing back the crusaders. Even Nederlok, Stonehand and deLancie were there to congratulate them.

"Good work," Nederlok said to Ralis. "The majority of Caelar's forces have been routed."

"That's great news. What od we do now?" Ralis asked him.

"What we've set foot here to do, of course," Stonehand confirmed.

"The assault on Dragonspear?" Corwin asked.

"Yes. The crusade's falling back to Dragonspear. We'll never get a better chance of finishing this than we do now. Get what you need and join us on the march to Dragonspear's gates," Nederlok said.

Ralis exhaled, feeling a ticklish sensation in his chest which might be his heart sinking a fw inches into his chest.

"This is it. The mother of all battles, huh?" Neera said with a cheery smile, while cracking her knuckles, holding her staff under her left armpit.

Ralis nodded.

"Yeah, but there's one thing that has been bugging me ever since we brought Phossey's barrels down to the southern section of the camp, near the infirmary tents. How did the crusade know to target the barrels to destroy us?"

Nederlok stroked his beard thoughtfully. "That is a good question. They were definitely after the barrels, even though they should not have known about them. Though it pains me to say it, we have a mole in our midst, and I suggest we try to find out who it is before we press on to Dragonspear Castle," Nederlok said.

Ralis crossed his arms, knowing how impossible that would be. _Easy for you to say, Nederlok. There is hundreds of soldiers in this camp. Even though the population of our army has been cut down a margin, finding the traitor will be like finding a needle in a haystack._

" You're right, Nederlok. We need to find this mole before we move out. But we need ot search out the mole without telling everyone what we are actually doing," Ralis said.

Nederlok nodded in agreement. "You're right. I'll handle everything. You focus on finding the traitor," Nederlok said.

Safana overheard their conversation and walked over to Ralis when Nederlok walked away, recalling a few items she had recently stolen. When Ralis turned around and noticed the concerned expression on Safana's face, he realized that she has something to tell him.

"What is it, Safana?" He asked.

Safana didn't immediately reply, and she had trouble keeping here eyes focused on his eyes.

"I have to tell you something important, Ralis. Under normal circumstances, I would never say this, but... I could use some help," she said.

"What sort of help," Ralis asked warily.

"While you were gone yesterday, I, uh, dipped my fingers into a few pockets," Safana replied, reaching into her bag of stolen goods, and pulled out a small blue bag, showing it to Ralis. "One held a bag of junk and this notebook," Safana continued, opening the bag and pulling out the small notebook.

Ralis took the notebook out of Safana's hands and carefully read it.

"That notebook contains details of the camp's defenses... commander names..." Safana droned on.

"... And details on Phossey's barrels," Ralis added in a awestruck tone, finishing the sentence for Safana.

By some stroke of luck, Safana has stolen the items of the traitor!

"... Safana, do you know what you've just done? This is exactly the lead I was hoping for! Gods, I want to kiss you!" Ralis said happily.

Safana chuckled. "Be careful with what you wish for, hot stuff. I just might let you," she winked at him.

"Now is not the time for innuendos, Safana," Ralis said, looking into the bag Safana gave him. "Who did you take the notebook from?"

"That's the problem," Safana said with a shrug. "While I was working, I wasn't paying attention to faces."

Ralis grumbled. "Ah, forget it. Let's see what we got here. A candlestick with a stem of a gold leaf pressed into the stick's side... a strange potion and a sheet of rune covered paper... Damn it, these could belong to anyone here, and we don't have time to interview over 600 people here. Can you tell me nothing of the people you robbed, Safana?" Ralis asked.

Safana frowned and smiled incredulously, as if she couldn't believe Ralis said the word "robbed". ""Robbed" is such a loaded term. I prefer to think of it as easing friends' physical burdens. As to the question, they were all soldiers, I think."

"Damn it! And there are a lot of them here, too, even though the crusade's attack here cut down their numbers a bit. I guess we should limit our search to the captains and commanders and not the grunts," Ralis said.

Safana shrugged indifferently. "It's your call, champ," she said nonchalantly.

Ralis sighed and walked away, heading southwest. After passing by several soldiers who are either talking to each other, or hauling bodies of fallen allies or enemies, Ralis had the idea of asking someone to point him out to the nearest commanding officer. He stopped a Waterdeep soldier walking by him, and asked him where the nearest Waterdeep commanding officer is, and the soldier said that Captain Simonetta Twoedged is in her tent, and the man was generous enough to guide Ralis to the tent. Ralis stepped in and met a red haired woman in her middle or late 40's yet still looks attractive, high cheekbones and emerald eyes.

"Hello. Are you Simonetta Twoedged, the captain of the Waterdeep army?" Ralis asked her.

"I am," Simonetta nodded. "Did you need something, young one?"

"I found these lost items right here in this bag. Could you tell me if you recognize one of them?" Ralis asked, handing Simonetta the bag.

She opened it and pulled out the candlestick.

"... No, don't recognize that one," she said then put it back in the bag.

Then she pulled out the potion flask and examined it.

"Don't recognize that one either," she said, then placed it back in the bag.

Then she pulled out the rune covered sheet of paper, and she flinched, a sudden movement that Ralis would have never noticed if he blinked his eyes at that moment. Simonetta warily turned her gaze towards Ralis.

"How...? Where did you get this? Answer me," she demanded calmly.

 _This could be a trick question,_ Ralis thought. He can't tell her the truth. She might possibly be the traitor, and she is acting confused to trip him up. Telling the truth is risky, but being honest might make Simonetta open up more details to him.

"This page was found among the possessions of a spy. How do you explain that?" Ralis asked her.

Simonetta sighed. "This is from a code book used to translate military ciphers. You shouldn't be seeing it. Return it at once."

"My lady, I am the hero of Baldur's Gate, and Marshal Nederlok and I have reasons to suspect that there might be a traitor in our midst. Please believe me when I say it's imperative that I track down whoever had that page," Ralis urged her.

Simonetta isn't too familiar with the hero of Baldur's Gate, but when she looked into Ralis' eyes, she got the feeling that he is trustworthy.

"Very well. I will believe you. Do not make me regret it," she wagged her finger as a warning. "I loaned that book to one of Nederlok's lieutenants. A man named Malden Col."

 _Malden Col! Got ya, you bastard!_ Ralis had to resist the urge to jump joyously.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful," he said professionally.

"Tread carefully. We live in dangerous times," Simonetta said.

Ralis left the tent and asked around for Nederlok's whereabouts to catch up to him. He found Nederlok walking close by deLancie's tent.

"Marshal Nederlok! I know who the traitor is!" Ralis said when he caught up to him.

"Who?" Nederlok asked.

"Your lieutenant, Malden Col," Ralis said.

Nederlok blinked twice in surprise. "Malden Col. I knew him well- or thought I did. Let's go confront him," he said.

They confronted Malden Col in the eastern portion of the coalition camp. They found him in his tent, placing a few items in his rucksack.

"What? Ralis? Marshal Nederlok? What is the meaning of this?" Malden Col asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Ralis flashed the rune covered sheet of paper in front of of Malden's eyes.

"Did you lose a page from the code book you borrowed, Col?" Ralis asked him.

Malden Col blined in surprise, then he relaxed into a calm smirk.

"So I've been found out. It doesn't matter."

"Why, Malden? Why?" Nederlok asked him.

"Why did you tell the crusaders about Phossey's barrels? Why did you betray us?" Ralis asked him.

"Because you are too blind and stupid to see the truth! Those who cannot understand Caelar's righteousness will perish!" Malden shot back.

"He's too far gone. Let's make an example of him and get this done," Ralis said, then he and Nederlok dragged Malden Col out of the tent.

* * *

As he was being dragged out, Malden Col kept saying: "I've seen the Shining Lady's truth! I know the Shining Lady's truth! You cannot deny it!"

Ralis and Nederlok dragged Malden over to the northern portion of the camp, near the camp's exit/entrance, where they announced to everyone who the traitor is. Apparently everyone is shocked that Malden Col is the mole in the coalition camp. Ralis and Minsc stood by his sides, pressing their hands down on his shoulders, forcing him to stand on his knees so that he won't escape,

"What are we supposed to do? We don't have a brig around here," Stonehand said to Nederlok.

"And we cannot let him escape, either", deLancie said.

Nederlok was afraid of coming down to this, Ralis and Stonehand could see it in on his facial expressions.

"Then the only thing we can do is execute him," he said forlornly. "I don't take pleasure in beheading traitors and criminals, but its our only option," he added.

"I am not afraid of death, Nederlok. I am willing to die for the Shining Lady's cause!" Malden Col exclaimed triumphantly.

All the soldiers booed and jeered at him. When the jeering died down, someone in the crowd of soldiers exclaimed:

"Hey, look! that man's injured!"

And everyone turned their heads north to see a man with a sword impaled into his chest stumbling towards them, walking into the coalition camp's entrance.

Ralis recognized that man.

"Ophyllis!" He exclaimed, running towards him, and catching him before he collapsed to the ground.

"Ralis... oh, thank... thank the gods I found you. I... I don't think I have m-much time left in this world," he wheezed.

"Don't move, Ophyllis. You need healing," Ralis said, gently adjusting him to a sitting position so he can sit down on the ground. "Someone get a cleric here! Hurry!"

"I had it, Ralis... I had your money. All of it. But I-I-I was caught in the crusade's attack. They took the gold, all of it..." Ophyllis said, then coughed.

 _Those self-righteous bastards. They claim to be all holy, but they resort to thievery and murder when the opportunity presents itself!_ Ralis clenched his fists in anger.

"All I h-h-have to give you- ngh! -is th-this sword I g-got from my at-attackers..." Ophyllis grunted in pain.

"Don't worry about that. Be still and let me heal you," Ralis said tearfully, preparing to use his Bhaalspawn ability to cast Cure Minor Wounds on Ophyllis.

The clerics arrived, but judging by the dismayed looks on their faces, they could tell that the sword's blade is too close to Ophyllis's heart, removing it would quickly kill him rather than slowly.

Ophyllis shook his head in denial and coughed up some blood.

"Too- too late for healing. I'm sorry, Ralis. I tried, b-b-but if you want your gold, you'll ne-AHH! -need to find the crusaders who took it. Here, now..." Ophyllis put his hands on the sword's handle, preparing to pull it out of his chest.

Ralis was about to protest, but his protest was cut off by Ophyllis' scream as he felt the burning pain of the blade slowly sliding out of his chest.

"Ophyllis! You crazy fool!" Ralis exclaimed fearfully.

The dying man feebly held the sword up in the air, smiling at Ralis, showing his bloodstained teeth.

"The sword is yours... M-may the gods smile upon you, O hero of Baldur's Gate..." Ophyllis let out a dying gasp when his body went limp and the sword rolled out of his hand.

"Ophyllis? Ophyllis?! _OPHYLLIS?! NO! GODS, NO!_ " Ralis cried out.

Why did this man's life have to end this way? All he wanted to do is pay back the money he owed after carelessly gambling it all. He may have been a careless idiot, but he he traveled hundreds of miles away from Baldur's Gate to atone for his mistake. Ralis respected him for that, he didn't deserve a fate like this.

Everyone watched the hero of Baldur's Gate sobbing over the body of a previously unknown man who died in his arms.

" _WHY?! ALL HE WANTED TO DO WAS PAY ME BACK!_ " Ralis shouted up at the sky as he sobbed.

No one bothered to come up to Ralis and tell him that he should focus on the imminent battle at hand, they just let him sob for three minutes, and around that time, Ralis finally calmed down. He stood up, picked up the sword that was impaled into Opphyllis' chest and said to the clerics around him: "We should give him a burial of honor when the war is over."

He walked towards the groups of soldiers, his party among them even the generals, and he held the bloodstained blade up in the air for everyone to see.

"Does everyone see this?" Ralis shouted. He paused, but not long. "This blood on this blade represents the blood of innocent lives the crusade has smeared throughout the Western Heartlands. They say their cause is holy, they say their cause is noble. They also say we are wicked to stand against them. Well, I say... I really don't give a wererat's ass. I've had enough. I've tried to be peaceful to the crusade, I've tried to fight with honor against them, but every time I see them commit a heinous act, it enrages me. This is NOT a crusade! It's a sham! It's a senseless pursuit of a dream that will become a nightmare for us all! I'm going for broke, I will fight them with every ounce of rage I got, and I hope you join in with me! So who is ready to take the fight to Dragonspear Castle?!"

"YEAAAAHHHH!" All the soldiers in the coalition camp cheered.

"Serves that idiot right for not seeing the light of Caelar Argent! Soon all of you will suffer the same fate as that fool did!" Malden Col said to Ralis, then started laughing.

Ralis closed his eyes, let out a low growl, and in one swift motion, he swung the bloodied sword downward towards Malden Col's neck, and the blade severed his head from his body, and his head went rolling towards the dumbfounded crowd of soldiers who were too stunned to cheer for the hero who had just lopped off the head of the traitor in rage over what he said about an innocent person getting caught in the middle of a battle that he had nothing to do with. Even Minsc was stunned into silence, and he let Malden Col's headless body drop to the ground.

Ralis didn't smile, but deep down, he was. Cutting off Malden Col's head felt like a great victory. Losing Ophyllis is the last straw for him. Chances are if he confronts Caelar, he might prefer to kill her than arrest her. And that two-faced false priest Hephernaan too.


	19. Chapter 19 Assault of Dragonspear

_**"Moral habits, induced by public practices, are far quicker in making their way into men's private lives, than the failings and faults of individuals are in infecting the city at large."**_  
 _ **-Plutarch**_

* * *

The time has come. The combined armies of Waterdeep, Daggerford and Baldur's Gate and the mercenaries and adventurers they hired march north along the overland caravan road road towards Dragonspear Castle, with Ralis and his entire party spearheading the march. 70 yards up ahead along the road, they saw the crusaders running away back to Dragonspear Castle. It would have made Ralis smile, seeing over a hundred crusaders running back to the castle with their tail between their legs, but he is in no mood for smiling. Imoen was non-fatally poisoned, and Ophyllis lost his life because of those damned crusaders. For that, he is going to take Caelar Argent, dead or alive, it doesn't matter.

The 276 crusaders ran along the trail leading towards the broken Great Gate of Dragonspear Castle, entering the fortress. Hephernaan stood near the tent closest to the broken Great Gate within the fortress, watching the crusaders run into the castle in droves running past him, in preparation for the armies of Waterdeep, Daggerford and Baldur's Gate which are coming very soon. Hephernaan looked up at the morning sun slowly rising up in the blue sky, inhaled a deep breath, and sighed with a relaxed smile. Though the parlay with the generals of the three armies regarding the peaceful handout of Ralis failed, the young Bhaalspawn is still on his way with the armies. Though the cost will result in the deaths of many crusaders, Haphernaan, unbeknownst to Caelar Argent standing five feet behind him with three elite crusaders flanking her, he does not care a whit about the loss of lives of the crusader soldiers. All he cares about is opening the portal to Avernus of the Nine Hells to allow his master to return to the mortal plane of existence without waiting another decade. After 46 crusader soldiers ran past him, those armed with ranged weapons taking cover behind wooden barricades with window holes along the sides of the trail leading towards the inner gates 93 feet behind him and Caelar, Hephernaan turned to face Caelar Argent with a pleased smile.

"The battle unfolds as you expected, my lady. Our forces fall back to the castle even now," he told her as more crusaders rushed in.

"The battle is not the war. Whatever blood we shed is worth it as long as the child of Bhaal bleeds as well," Caelar shook her head in disagreement.

Hephernaan nodded submissively in agreement. "What is your command?" He asked, still maintaining the guise of her loyal priest.

"We must hold Dragonspear, or all is lost," she simply said, then turned her back on Hephernaan and began to walk away towards the open inner gates, her elite crusaders following her.

"And the Bhaalspawn?" Hephernaan asked.

Caelar stopped walking, paused for a second, then turned to face Hephernaan one more time.

"Bring the child of Bhaal to me. Our triumph depends on it," she told him, then she continued walking towards the inner gates of the castle.

Once she entered the gates, the elite crusaders with her shut the gates, concealing themselves in the inner ward of the castle. Hephernaan proceeded to inform the crusaders not to kill the child of Bhaal at all costs. He ordered them to try to subdue or cripple the hero of Baldur's Gate in any way possible, but his allies and the Sword Coast armies are open season, and he made sure the word spread out.

After every crusader that did not get killed during the assault on the coalition camp made it inside Dragonspear Castle, all of the crusade's best mages erected a powerful magical barrier at the castle's great gates. Without the barrier, the armies of Daggerford, Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep could just run right into the castle, and the crusaders do not want to make it easy for them to get inside. After the barrier was erected, twenty-five of the crusade's archers took defensive positions on top of the castle's two decrepit towers which used to hold the castle's front gates together, and they held their bows, arrows crossbows ready, waiting for their enemies to come marching down the trail. It didn't take them long to catch their first glimpse of the Waterdeep, Daggerford and Baldur's Gate armies in the distance, marching down the trail towards the castle. The arms of some of the archers trembled, because they have yet to experience true combat unlike the crusaders who were sent to lay siege to Bridgefort. Fighting a live opponent is different from shooting targets and striking practice dummies, and they knew it. Not every crusader in Caelar's army has seen combat before the crusade started, some of them have no actual combat experience because they were once farmers or civilians who never held a weapon before.

"Here they come!" A crusader archer woman exclaimed, pulling back a few inches more on the string of her longbow.

"Steady! Steady! Hold your fire until my command!" The archer commander shouted.

The archers on the towers waited eight minutes for the armies to come into range. As they did, those who are trembling and sweating nervously prayed to Tymora for good luck, and others simply kissed a trinket they received from their family for good luck when the crusade forced them into service.

Even when they did come into range, the archer commander did not give the order to fire yet.

"Do we fire now, sir?" A young half-elf boy asked the archer commander.

The commander did not reply, he silently watched the armies approach, standing motionless like a statue.

Some of the armies' archers, ten of them, took defensive positions behind the wooden barriers that was meant for crusaders with ranged weapons to fend off the armies outside the gates and use for cover against projectile weapons, but no one wanted to stay outside the castle.

"Fire!" The archer commander exclaimed.

All the archers started raining arrows down on them!

"Get out of range!" Cedric deLancie exclaimed to everyone.

The bulk of the army backed away, while the archers who have already set up behind the wooden barricades fired back at the crusaders up in the towers. The arrows the crusaders fired struck the wooden surface of the barricades and some found their mark, hitting the heads of some of the archers. Fortunately for deLancie, Ralis and the whole army with them, the crusader archers knew better than to try to fire at the approaching armies- they are not stupid to walk into shooting range of their weapons. Its their archers they need to be worried about, since they've already gotten in firing range.

After the armies moved back 100 feet away from the castle gates, Ralis and deLancie noticed that some of their archers have managed to shoot down a few crusaders, and only five of their own had gotten shot and killed by the first volley of arrows.

"Damn it! With that accursed magic barricade erected, we cannot get inside the castle!" deLancie exclaimed.

"And no spell of ours can breach it!" Patrescus close by exclaimed.

"Hold on! Don't count your chickens yet, deLancie!" Ralis said.

"Huh?" Cedric looked back at Ralis in confusion.

"Even though I did not poison the crusaders' water supply like you wanted, I did managed to place one of Phossey's explosive barrels underground below the castle's gates," he replied.

Cedric immediately flashed a pleased smile at Ralis.

"Then watch as the walls fall down!" He exclaimed, then he gave a hand signal to a Waterdeep army mage, Dahk Hensleigh, standing five feet behind them.

The mage exclaimed two words: " _Regis Pyrrea!_ "

At first it seemed like nothing happened, but as Ralis, his party, Jovan, Nederlok, Stonehand, deLancie and their armies watched the bright purple barrier blocking the way into the castle, they felt the ground vibrate on their feet. The vibration became a tremor, then they saw an explosion erupt from the ground, engulfing the mages on the other side of the barrier!

The explosion rose up between the two towers, causing all of the crusaders' archers on the towers to catch on fire from the rising yellowish red fireball or fall off the tower to their deaths or both. The fireball became a cloud of smoke as it drifted higher into the air.

"Wow! Look at that!" Jovan exclaimed.

"I'll be damned. It worked," Nederlok said.

With the mages dead from the explosion, the barrier has disappeared, and immediately Dahk and every mage in the army began to cast the Bless spell on their fellow soldiers. While this was happening, Cedric stroked his chin in amusement.

"Hmm. I must admit, I had some doubts whether that would work. Well done, Ralis," he said.

"Thank me later. The hard part is just beginning," Ralis reminded him.

Stonehand unsheathed her morningstar and shouted: "For Daggerford! For the Sword Coast! CHARGE!"

* * *

As soon as she shouted that command, the Waterdeep, Daggerford and Baldur's Gate armies came charging towards the open gates shouting in unison with their weapons drawn. 34 Flaming Fist soldiers, 51 Waterdeep soldiers and 12 Daggerford soldiers including Stonehand, Ralis and his party charged into the castle, and more followed behind them. Ralis was running alongside Jovan to his left and three Waterdeep soldiers to his right, with his Dead Shot longbow drawn, and Jovan had his crossbow ready for action. Both of their hearts pounded quickly with adrenaline upon hearing the war cries of the unified Sword Coast armies and the crusaders, and seeing the soldiers up ahead meet up with the first wave of crusaders, clashing steel. The crusade archers who are not among the recently dead archers when the barrier was destroyed hung back 56 feet away from the main gate, hiding behind wooden barricades, taking potshots at the Sword Coast armies with arrows and crossbow bolts every chance they could get.

" _ARCHERS! WATCH OUT!_ " Ralis heard Stonehand cry out among the shouts, screams, clashing steel and whooshing of magic spells being cast.

Ralis spotted an ogre crusader coming straight at him wielding two war axes and fired a void-tipped arrow, and it hit the ogre in the forehead and he collapsed dead. Ralis had no time to relax yet, he had to draw his swords to engage two crusaders in combat.

" _COME ON!_ " One of the crusaders shouted in rage, swinging his sword wildly at the hero of Baldur's Gate.

Ralis had to focus on alternating his parries from one crusader to the other to avoid getting cut. Jovan jumped into the battle seven seconds later with his sword Aihonen and dispatched his first crusader, and together, they took down the other one, and not long after, they were forced to fight two more crusaders who had recently taken down a Flaming Fist scout together.

Ralis and his entire party were split up among the warring Sword Coast armies and crusader armies, Minsc, Voghiln and three Daggerford soldiers were fighting a silver half-dragon crusader and two mercenaries, a crusader sergeant and two crusader grunts. Minsc locked blades with the sergeant while Voghiln engaged the silver half-dragon. Occasionally the silver half-human half-dragon made use of his separate breath weapons during combat against Voghiln, trying to hit him with a cone of freezing cold air, and sometimes a cone of paralyzing gas- Voghiln had to keep feinting and dodging to avoid getting blasted by the lethal cones.

" _SWORD, MEET EVIL!_ " Minsc yelled before swinging his sword in a wide arc that knocked over the sergeant with his sheer strength.

"I NEED BACKUP! NOW!" The crusader sergeant exclaimed after rolling away to avoid getting impaled by Minsc's sword.

" _FIREBALL! GO!_ " A crusader mage close by the wooden barricades where the archers are safely firing their projectiles are, and the mage next to her prepared to cast the Fireball spell, which would harm most of the Sword Coast army and their own allies in combat with them, but the mage doesn't seem to care about collateral damage.

However, fortunately a Waterdeep soldier who foresaw the possibility of a mage casting a cheap shot spell broke away from the combat zone and and shot down the mage casting the Fireball spell just before the archers managed to shoot him down.

" _DESTROY THOSE BARRICADES! ARCHERS HIDE BEHIND THEM!_ " A Flaming Fist scout shouted, fighting a crusader.

M'Khiin, being defended by Duncan, Garrus and Corwin, did her shamanistic dance, calling spirits for help. Garrus threw a Potion of Explosion at the second wave of crusaders coming towards them from behind the cluster of tents to the right side of the walls surrounding the castle's inner ward. The explosion sent ten of them flying through the air! But more crusaders keep coming. While firing arrows at crusaders, Garrus got shot in the right shoulder by an arrow.

"Aagh!"

"Garrus!" Duncan exclaimed.

"No, forget about me! Keep fighting!" Garrus said through gritted teeth.

The fight intensified more and more. As the hero of Baldur's Gate fought more and more crusaders, helping the Sword Coast armies push further and further into the castle towards the inner ward's gates three or four feet at a time, he realized that the crusade is starting to come at them in droves, as if they have disturbed a hornet's nest, and the crusaders are the angry hornets. Dynaheir managed to cast the Fireball spell, sending the fireball towards the crusader barricades, burning the crusader archers and mages alive or forcing them to flee out of their cover. Everything happened like a blur to Ralis. He had to dodge a few arrows, and engage crusaders in melee combat every ten seconds, and for every crusader that fell, more take their place, so there is no moment for reprieve.

More and more crusaders kept coming, forcing him and everyone else to fight for their lives, and for the Sword Coast, with no intention of retreating, everyone is giving all they got in this fight. M'Khiin managed to summon the spirits of five goblin warriors, one peryton, two tigers and three dire boars, and immediately set them on the crusaders. The peryton ghost swooped down on helmetless crusaders and tore out their exposed necks, the dire bore spirit gored every crusader it came across, and the goblin warrior spirits aided any soldier who was in need of assistance in combat,. The more crusaders Ralis cut down, the easier it was for him to get lost in where he is and what he is doing.

"Oh damn! Here comes more!" Ralis heard someone exclaim.

"More?! Gods, please!" Ralis moaned.

"FOR THE SHINING LADY, TO ARMS! SHOW THESE WICKED FOOLS NO MERCY!" A helmeted elf crusader commander woman exclaimed, leading the charge, and three half dragon crusaders joined the fray.

As expected, the battle intensified, especially with the peryton, dire boar and tiger ghosts assisting the Sword Coast army. More bodies piled up on the ground, mostly crusaders, and sometimes Flaming Fist and Waterdeep soldiers. No doubt, it is a definite slaughter. Ralis impaled Albruin's blade into the chest of a copper half-dragon crusader he knocked prone, hoping that Corwin is still alive, he hasn't seen her since the siege started.

" _DON'T LET THEM PUSH US BACK!_ " Duncan exclaimed, then he was forced to fight a crusader armed with a halberd.

Duncan could tell the guy is not an elite crusader, and he easily dispatched him with his short swords by feinting, dodging and striking when he got fatigued.

After killing his 27th crusader, Ralis noticed Neera southwest from he stood, near the wooden wall that walls off some of the tents belonging to hired mercenaries. She was with Glint and Safana, fighting off crusaders with a couple Daggerford soldiers, and he joined up with them.

"Neera! Glint! I'm here!" Ralis called to them as he ran towards them.

"Ralis! There you are!" Glint exclaimed.

"This is NOT fun!" Neera exclaimed after Ralis joined their side.

"Less talk, more spellcasting, mage!" A human Daggerford soldier exclaimed.

Neera tried casting a spell when more crusaders tried to engage them, then a wild surge happened instead! The wild surge made everyone who owns average arrows and crossbow bolts within a 50 foot radius of Neera lose their ranged weapon ammo. The void-tipped arrows Ralis has in his quiver were spared because they are anything but average.

"What the hell was that?" the other Daggerford soldier exclaimed.

Instead of giving an answer, Ralis and Glint engaged the crusaders with more Waterdeep soldiers coming to their assistance. The slaughter continued on for another 20 minutes. Every time the Sword Coast armies manage to get three feet closer to the inner ward gates, more crusaders keep coming at them! Viconia, Safana, Dorn, Pfaug, Raypheus, Stysich and Jaheira suffered a minor injury during the second 20 minutes of the fight, and the crusaders managed to destroy the peryton ghost after it claimed its 14th victim, even the dire boar ghost was destroyed, but the goblin warrior ghosts and the tiger ghosts were still active in the battle. When almost an hour passed and the Sword Coast army were halfway to the inner ward gates, Ralis reunited with Nederlok after defeating a gnoll mercenary.

"Ralis. You're still with us," Nederlok said with relief, his face most with sweat.

"Of course I am. What's the situation?" Ralis asked him, breathing heavily.

"We may be able to hold this section of the outer courtyard, but we can't get any farther. The crusade is like the tide- we're trying to stop it, but there are too many of them," Nederlok said grimly.

This is not good. Being unable to reach the inner courtyard gates means they can't get any closer to where Caelar is.

"We can't give up, Nederlok. I know we've been at this for half an hour, but there must be a way to stop the seemingly endless tide of crusaders," Ralis said.

Nederlook nodded in agreement.

"If we're to get Caelar within the keep, yes. Someone needs to staunch the flow of troops from the camp so we can break down the inner courtyard doors," Nederlok said.

Ralis thought it over while everyone else continued fighting. In order to staunch the flow of enemy troops, he will have to fight someone they deeply respect next to Caelar. Someone who is considered Caelar's second in command. But who?

"I'll see what I can do," Ralis promised Nederlok.

"Tymora go with you," Nederlok replied.

As Ralis reentered the fight, he had to admit that Nederlok's plan is easier said than done. How in the world can he stop the onslaught of crusaders so the Sword Coast armies can break into Dragonspear's inner ward without being interrupted?

At that moment, a new figure gracefully flew down into the battlefield from the spine of Halatathlaer's skeletal corpse on the roof of the castle, landing on the ground in a stylish, graceful crouch. It is none other than Adras Ashatiel. After standing up straight and tall, she shouted:

"ENOUGH! CRUSADERS, STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN OR BY THE LADY, YOU'LL ANSWER TO ME!"

Her loud voice cut through everyone's ears, it seems. Every crusader and Sword Coast army soldier stopped fighting, and complete, utter silence fell on the castle for the first time. And to Nederlok and everyone allied with the Sword Coast army's surprise, the crusaders sheathed their swords, and rushed over to Ashatiel's side, the direction where the inner ward gates is. The Sword Coast army, their hired mercenaries, Jovan, and Ralis' party stood back eight feet behind Ralis, unintenitonally leaving him alone with no one at his side to face down Ashatiel and the 109 crusaders behind her.

"Know that I am Adras Ashatiel, right hand to the Shining Lady. I know you, Bhaalspawn," Ashatiel said to Ralis.

Ralis frowned, recognizing the woman by her wings.

"I recognize you. We met at the parley," he noted.

Ashatiel nodded. "Some call you a hero, but I know what happened on Boareskyr Bridge. You will never fight with us, though our cause be righteous."

Ralis groaned and rolled his eyes, getting sick of hearing how the crusaders are righteous when he knows what they don't know about Hephernaan.

"You know, I'm _really_ getting tired of this "we're righteous, you're evil" shtick. Caelar's madness will bring the Sword Coast to ruins. How can you say your cause is righteous when you look back at the course you've run and see nothing but ruins you left behind?"

"I will bring you to the light, and prove that ours is the side of honor and virtue. Face me, one on one. If you defeat me, my soldiers and I will surrender to you. Do you accept?" Adras asked him.

Ralis realized that this is exactly what he is looking for. A way to end the endless tide of crusaders. If he accepts this challenge and defeats Adras in a one on one fight, the Sword Coast army will get a free pass to enter the castle without any resistance from the surviving crusaders. Plus, it will end the bloodshed as well.

"If it will save lives, then so be it. You and I fight one on one, with no other interference," Ralis agreed.

Ashatiel stepped a few feet towards Ralis while the crusader soldiers behind her panned out, forming a partial circle, shaped like a "C" and some of the Sword Coast army filled in the lower portion of the circle to complete it, containing Ralis and Ashatiel inside the circle's outline, a circle formed by the crusader and Sword coast armies that is 60 feet in diameter.

"You and I, one on one. No other combatants, no hiding from sight like a coward. If you break the rules or your allies interfere, my soldiers will cut you down, every last one of you. Do you accept my challenge?" She asked as she drew her +2 longsword and readied her +1 small gold circular shield.

"I am ready," Ralis said, drawing Albruin and Severance out of their scabbards.

The moment the crusaders and Sword Coast armies began to cheer for their respective heroes, Adras and Ralis squared each other off, trying to anticipate what move they would make.

"Know that I have no ill will against you," Adras said to Ralis as she sized him up for a weak spot in his defenses.

Ralis had a feeling that she most likely lied to him about not having anything against him. He remembered the way she looked at him at the parley yesterday, and her death glare back then said otherwise. They continued to circle each other, trying to anticipate their moves while crusaders shouted:

"GO ASHATIEL!"

"SHOW HIM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!"

And Sword Coast armies shouted:

"SHOW HER HOW YOU HANDLED SAREVOK!"

"DO IT! FOR THE GATE!"

Ralis appreciated the words of encouragement from the Sword Coast armies, but they were a little distracting. Then, when he least expected it, Adras immediately turned her back on him, flapped her artificial wings forward once, aiming slightly towards the ground, using the gust of wind her wings caught to propel her body towards him and at the same time launching herself seven feet into the air, and as she stylishly fell towards Ralis, she twisted her body towards him and prepared to swing her sword down on his head!

"YAAH!" She yelled.

"What the...?!" Ralis gasped, shocked at the unexpected move and instinctively held both of his swords up together like an "X" to brace for impact, and Adras's longsword crashed down on the crossed swords, saving Ralis' head from getting split in two like a watermelon, but the strength of Adras's swing doubled by her fall towards him was incredible!

The impact was so powerful, a shockwave of pain vibrated through both of Ralis' arms, causing him to drop Abruin to the ground, but he managed to hold on to Severance despite the sharp, throbbing pain! As soon as Ashatiel's feet touched the ground, she gave no time for Ralis to register what just happened, she started swinging her sword at him.

Caught completely off guard, Ralis only feinted, ducked and dodged every blow Ashatiel threw at him. He tried to attack her a couple times, but she deflected each strike with her small round shield effortlessly, she didn't even try to dodge. Besides, Ralis' arms are still in extreme pain to swing his sword effectively. Ashatiel did manage to nick Ralis in the chest and arms a couple times, damaging his ankheg armor slightly and giving him some superficial cuts.

"COME ON! FIGHT BACK!" Some of the Sword Coast army soldiers exclaimed, wondering why Ralis dropped one of his swords and is fighting like a man with brittle arms.

They don't understand that Ashatiel hit Ralis with a surprise attack that caught him completely off guard and the throbbing pain in his arms is still fresh, so he can't strike Ashatiel with his full strength at the moment. When he saw Ashatiel start to swing her sword towards his head, he rolled aside to dodge the overhead swing from Ashatiel, then he faced her while still crouching, bringing up his sword up and holding it horizontally in time to parry her sword. With a loud _clang_ that hurt Ralis' ears, their blades locked together, and in that split second, Ralis kicked out with his right leg, his boot made contact with Ashatiel's chest and she got kicked back a few feet, landing on her back.

Ralis stood up the moment Ashatiel jumped back on her feet. He expected her to say something to him, like "not bad" or "well played", since he is surviving this long even though he is temporarily somewhat disabled, but she said nothing to him, not a word. Instead of keeping her distance and circling him like before, Ashatiel came at him again, her sword swinging strategically at weak points of his body. Ralis knew that he needs to survive Adras' attacks long enough for the pain in his arms to abate into painless numbness, otherwise his sword swings won't have the power it needs to cut through Ashatiel's chainmail armor. The soldiers of Caelar's crusade kept on cheering and urging Ashatiel to finish off the hero of Baldur's Gate while the Sword Coast armies shouted their own words of encouragement. Ralis couldn't help wondering, what is it that gave her the strength to swing a sword hard enough to nearly paralyze his arms with pain? The only possible answer is a Potion of Strength or a Potion of Hill Giant Strength. She must have drank one of those potions before she issued the challenge.

 _She gave herself an unfair advantage against me. Well, two can play that game,_ Ralis thought while dodging every sword strike from Ashatiel.

Suddenly a flap from Ashatiel's angelic wings blew a strong gust of air into Ralis' face, causing him to drop Severance, close his eyes briefly and stagger back a few feet in surprise. Taking this opportunity, Ashatiel lunged her blade towards Ralis' heart. As luck would have it for Ralis, he managed to clasp both of his hands on the safe ends of Ashatiel's blade before the tip of the blade could pierce the ankheg hide of his body armor. Fortunately Ashatiel stabbed her blade at Ralis' chest with the blade vertically, otherwise if Ralis grabbed it, the sharp ends would cut the palms of his hands. All the soldiers from both sides gasped in shock. Seconds before Ashatiel attempted to push her blade into Ralis' chest, Ralis raised the blade with his hands away from his chest over towards his right shoulder, and just when Ashatiel pushed forward, and the blade slid through Ralis's hands, almost piercing his right shoulder but instead cutting through nothing but air.

With Ashatiel in close contact to him when her sword stabbed over his right shoulder past his head, Ralis quickly reached into his belt to grab the handle of his two-sided dirk Avenger, then he stabbed at Ashatiel's abdomen and she cried out in pain, staggering back.

The Sword Coast army cheered when they noticed that Adras received her first wound from the hero of Baldur's Gate. Adras checked her wound, noticing that the dirk had cut through the riveted chains of her +2 chainmail body armor, and blood is steadily leaking out, staining the chains over her wound red. She looked at Ralis and flashed him a smile.

Ralis noticed this and said: "I may be a child of Bhaal, but I struggle daily to be my own person- a noble person. I don't take pleasure in hurting you. Surrender, and I swear I'll make sure the armies of the Sword Coast treat you and the crusaders humanely."

Adras scoffed. "And abandon the Shining Lady? Never," she said. "You speak like a virtuous person, but I will never trust the word of a Bhaalspawn."

Before Ralis could say another word, Ashatiel took a running jump at Ralis and used her wings to launch herself up in the air. While hovering nine feet in the air, too high for Ralis to reach, she sheathed her sword and cast a couple magic missiles down at Ralis. Both hit their mark, causing him to fall to the ground with minor wounds, and some of his void-tipped arrows spilled out of his quiver.

"COME ON, GET UP!" Some of the Sword Coast armies exclaimed.

"I don't think he can defeat her," deLancie said to Nederlok.

"Why do you say that?" Nederlok asked the skeptical man.

"Why? I mean, look at this, it is perfectly clear that he has never fought anyone like her. She is using her wings to her advantage and he has nothing," deLancie said in exasperation.

"Never tell me the odds, Cedric. Because despite them, I believe that Ralis can win," Nederlok rebuffed him.

Ashatiel launched her second and final volley of magic missiles and Ralis dodged the two orbs by jumping into a roll the second before the two orbs could crash into him on both sides, and instead cancelled each other out. Then Ralis pulled out his longbow, aimed a void-tipped arrow at Adras and fired. She dodged the arrow by letting herself fall to the ground, landing with grace just like before.

Ralis picked up Severance off the ground next to him, then cast Call Upon Holy Might on himself, then charged at the winged woman. Ashatiel stood up, drawing her sword then parried Ralis' attacks, and jumping every time he tried to slash at her legs, and he did the same when she tried to slash at his legs as well. When Ralis' feet touched the ground, Ashatiel kicked him in the face, then hovered in the air while Ralis fell back on the ground, dazed from the blow.

As soon as Ralis landed on the ground, Ashatiel allowed herself to fall towards Ralis with the attempt to impale her sword into his chest when she lands on him. Ralis didn't try to roll away he lay there, waiting for Ashatiel to strike. The Sword coast armies, and Ralis' party, including Corwin feared that this might be the end of the hero of Baldur's Gate.

"YAAAAHH!" Ashatiel yelled as she fell towards Ralis.

Two seconds before she landed nhim, Ralsi opened his eyes suddenly, then he cross-chopped his hands on Ashatiel's blade, breaking the sharp end off before it could penetrate his chest! Only the broken end touched Ralis' armor and it didn't penetrate at all.

Everyone gasped in shock, including Ashatiel. Before she could do anything else, Ralis quickly activated Shocking Grasp and when his right hand touched Ashatiel's left arm, she became paralyzed, giving Ralis enough time to reach for Severance and plunge the blade through the riveted chains of her armor and into her chest.

"Guuh-!" Ashatiel grunted when she felt the blade punch through her skin and into her left lung.

Breathing heavily, Ralis stood up on his feet, causing Ashatiel who is making labored breathing noises while still paralyzed to fall off of him and lay face up on the ground, his sword still stuck into her chest.

"I'm sorry, but you gave me no choice. You and the crusade need to be stopped before everyone in the Sword Coast and possibly all of Faerun gets killed by your arrogance and Caelar's," Ralis said to her as the sword drained some of her life energy to heal his bruises and minor injuries.

He pulled out Severance and watched as Ashatiel bleed out on the ground, blood staining the lower left side of her armor close to her waist, where she was stabbed by his dirk, and the recent wound where the left side of her rib is. Those wounds and Severance taking her life energy to heal Ralis cemented her fate, and her wings twitched and fluttered against the dirt, becoming partially covered in grains of dirt.

" _C... C... curse you... *cough* Curse you... and... Sarevok... *cough* But... at least... *cough, cough* I can... join... my..._ _Uhhh_..." Ashatiel let out a dying gasp and her body became lifeless with her eyes open before she could say who she wanted to see in the afterlife.

* * *

"Rest in peace, Adras Ashatiel. Though you fought with arrogance, you also fought with honor," Ralis mournfully said as he knelt down and closed her eyelids as collective gasps and exclamations rose above the crusader soldiers.

"Ashatiel has fallen!" One crusader soldier exclaimed.

"Ashatiel is dead? How is this possible?" A mercenary allied with the crusade exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ashatiel is defeated- only Caelar can save us now!" A crusader mage said.

"Caelar! Why have you abandoned your humble servants in their hour of need?"

"This can't be happening! The Shining Lady promised us divine protection...!" A crusader named Zoe Kryn whined.

The Sword Coast armies cheered while most of the crusaders and mercenaries allied with them retreated.

"Ha ha! The crusade is running scared of us now!" A Daggerford soldier exclaimed happily.

Ralis went over to Albruin a short distance away from where Ashatiel's body lay, and placed it back into its scabbard with Severance.

"Let's go! To the inner courtyard gates!" Ralis exclaimed, leading the way.

As he walked away from Ashatiel's corpse, he never looked back to notice that her body slowly turned into ash, and the soft wind blew the grains of ash away, just like Sarevok when he was defeated, and the Sword Coast armies following behind him never noticed either, they simply relished the fact that 96% of the crusade have already retreated.

As they neared the gate, they heard Caelar's voice nearby exclaim:

"Hear me, people of Waterdeep, Daggerford, and Baldur's Gate. Heed my words. I am not your enemy!"

"Up there!" Jovan pointed up at the inner courtyard's walls.

Everybody looked up towards the sky and they saw Caelar standing at the edge of the inner courtyard's high walls above the gates, looking down at all of them. From Caelar's point of view, the armies of the Sword Coast, their mercenaries, and Ralis and his party looked like hundreds of roach sized humanoids among the hundreds of dead bodies littered all around the outer ward, symbolizing how small and petty their motives are for opposing her goals and morals.

"Have none among you lost a mother, a father, a sibling, a loved one lost to a cruel and unjust fate? So it was for the victims of the Dragonspear Wars. Too many dead, their souls dragged to Avernus, lost forever. Or so we believed. Then I discovered the truth! I tell you that the Dragonspear dead are NOT lost! I shall lead an army into Avernus and retrieve them if you will but let me. Do not toss this opportunity aside. Do not let the devils take so much more than their due! Join me! Together, we can bring about a new age. An age of peace, of justice, of enlightenment."

Ralis decided to speak up, having had enough of her hypocrisy.

"You speak of peace and justice, but your crusade has left nothing but chaos and ruin in its wake. End this madness, Caelar. Surrender now!" Ralis demanded angrily.

Caelar scowled sharply at him, but she is too high above ground level for Ralis and everyone else to see her expression change.

"You ask me to surrender now, when I stand on the threshold of victory? No! I will not stop now. I cannot!" She retorted at him.

"Then the only way to end this is with violence. You will pay for the lives you've so arrogantly ruined, Caelar. I will see to that, with your arrest or death," Ralis warned her.

Caelar's hands curled into fists and they trembled. Ralis couldn't tell, but Caelar is frustrated that she can't convince him to join her side.

" _You could have walked with me in the light, but you chose blood and darkness. You will pay for that,_ " Caelar said, her growling voice too low for Ralis and the others to hear, then she disappeared into the decrepit tower to her right.

After Caelar departed, everyone waited for someone to open the inner ward gate doors. A mere 13 seconds later, Phossey Dugdeep arrived, goggles covering her eyes as usual, carrying a barrel of bwoosh in her arms. She trudged past everyone, heading towards the gates, she placed the barrel near the gates, lit the fuse on the barrel, and ran back towards everyone. Nine seconds after she lit the fuse, the barrel exploded, knocking the inner ward gates off its hinges, allowing everyone access to the inner courtyard of the castle, and the castle's entrance.

"All right boys and girls, have at 'em. I'll be back at the camp drinking myself into a stupor," Phossey said, then hiccuped and laughed before walking away.

"That is one of the strangest dwarves I've ever seen. Yep, very strange indeed," Glint said to Minsc, watching her leave.

"I have seen many strange creatures, friend Glint, but none quite so strange as she is," Minsc scratched his bald head, and Boo squeaked in agreement.

"Scouting team, with me!" Corporal Duncan exclaimed, moving forward towards the open gate, and fifteen Flaming Fist soldiers and five mages gathered around him.

"We must scout ahead and make sure there are no traps within the castle. Move out!" Duncan led his scouting team into Dragonspear's inner ward.

Then deLancie stepped forward and said: "I want four warmages and Dahk to accompany me into the inner courtyard for backup reconnaissance!"

"Yes, sir!" Dahk nodded, then he and four warmages followed deLancie into the inner courtyard while everyone else waited in the outer ward and relaxed, except for Ralis and his party. Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid, Jaheira, M'Khiin, Neera, Corwin, Jovan and Glint went with him into the castle's inner courtyard.

Dragonspear's inner courtyard is smaller in comparison to the wide outer courtyard. Debris and rocks are littered all over the ground, and the castle's tower walls that separate the inner from the outer ward have been badly damaged from a recent fight, and Halatathlaer's skeleton is draped over the central castle.

"Wow..." Ralis said in awe, looking up at what little he could see of the dragon's skeleton draped over the keep's rooftops.

"Nice view, huh?" Neera asked, stepping beside him and looking up at the skeleton.

"Yeah. This dragon was big enough to swallow us whole..." Ralis said.

Jovan gave Neera a funny look, but she didn't notice him.

"That's quite a scary thought," Glint said.

They approached the two front doors of the keep, two Flaming Fist soldiers stood guard next to the door and opened them when they saw Ralis and his chosen party approach.

As soon as they stepped inside the keep, their nostrils caught the scent of stale air and old wood. Though the torches are lit along the walls, the inside of the keep looked in serious need of remodeling. The edges of the ceiling are covered in cobwebs, the floors is filled with dust, and the stone walls looked old and worn. Two passageways were ahead on both the left and right sides of the walls, the one on the left leading to the barracks, the other leading to the dining room and library. Up ahead 38 feet down to the other end of the keep's main room, the stairs leading to the keep's cellar is guarded by four Flaming Fist soldiers.

"Hey, hero! The cellars are this way!" One of them called out.

Ralis and his party approached them carefully, being careful not to step on old wood on the floor that might give out and trap their leg in the hole.

"At ease, soldier. Where's Caelar and Duncan?" Ralis asked the soldier who called him over.

"Caelar's holed up beneath us in the basement. Bence Duncan's preparing ot eengage her. Head down the stairs and finish this," the soldier replied.

"Will do. Caelar's day of reckoning is close," Ralis promised the soldier with a respectful nod.

With that, they descended down the stairs.

When they reached the cellar, Ralis and his party found themselves in familiar territory. They are on the other side of the metal bar gate that the two clay golems were guarding before they spied on Hephernaan talking to his master.

"It feels strange coming back to this place after narrowly escaping capture and death thanks to old Daeros Dragonspear," Jovan said.

"Something's not right here," Corwin said, her voice tense with caution.

"What's the matter?" Ralis asked her.

"This is too easy," Corwin replied.

Ralis though it over, and found that she's right, Caelar and her crusade should be putting up more of a resistance against Duncan and his soldiers, but they heard no sounds of a battle. It's almost as if Caelar expects everyone to come to them.

"You're right. But what choice do we have but to go forward?" Ralis admitted.

"Well, there's always going back. I'm not saying we SHOULD go back. But we could, if you wanted," Glint chimed in.

Ralis stared at him.

"Hey, you asked," Glint said defensively.

"We've come this far. There's no going back now. Let's go," Corwin said.

"Wait," Ralis said, recalling something.

He reached into his inventory bag and pulled out the spectacles that he got from the elf Zaviak before they left Baldur's Gate so many tendays ago.

"What's that?" Jovan asked curiously.

"If that elf with the strange vocabulary of the common tongue is right, these spectacles will allow me to see the souls here in Dragonspear and I can bring them out from whatever plane of existence they are trapped in, and bring them into the mortal plane, rescuing them without having to open the portal and journey to Avernus, I hope," Ralis said.

He put on the spectacles and looked around. After seven seconds of looking, his companions became curious.

"Well? What do you see?" Jovan asked.

Ralis frowned as he continued looking, turning his head up, down left and right. He saw nothing through the spectacles. No tormented souls, nothing.

"This isn't right. I should be able to see the souls of the Dragonspear dead with these things, but I can't see them! I can't see any spirits here!" Ralis said in frustration.

"Are you using that thing correctly, Ralis?" Jaheira asked skeptically.

"Maybe that thing is broken," Neera guessed.

Ralis checked over the spectacles briefly, seeing no scratches of cracks in the lens, then sighed in exasperation.

"It's not broken, Neera, and I've seen the elf who originally had it use it, Jaheira. Something is definitely not right here, and it's not just because reaching Caelar is too easy. Caelar seems to have a different reason for going to Avernus. The souls of the Dragonspear dead should be here like Caelar said, but they're not. These spectacles aren't detecting any spirits here. We should find Caelar and get some answers from her. Either she is in league with Hephernaan and his master this whole time, or she has been played, we'll soon find out."

They aproached the open gate, entered the hallway to their right- the same hallway where they found Hephernaan's quarters, and found Duncan and five Flaming Fist soldiers standing near the big door that Minsc claimed yesterday night had the mural of two snakes facing each other as if they were in love. Duncan smiled upon seeing Ralis and some of his companions arrive.

"It's nearly over, Ralis. Caelar retreated into this vault. There's no way out. Our mage reports a strange magical aura behind the door- we've got to be careful. Are you ready for the final battle?" Duncan said.

"I'll be the one leading the battle, Corporal. Follow me. We're going in," Ralis said with confidence as he approached, passing by Duncan.

"It's strange to be so close to her. Finally, we get a chance to end this once and for all," Corwin said, her voice having some mild anxiety in it, probably form the tension that the ultimate battle for the future of the Sword Coast and possibly Faerun is close.

"Well said," Duncan agreed with a nod, then turned to face the guards flanking the door while Ralis stood by, waiting. "Open the door, soldiers! The Shining Lady's crusade ends now!"

The guards nodded and pushed the door open. Ralis walked in first, followed by his party, then Duncan and his soldiers.

The inside of the vault looked more alike a fairly small room that looks more like a cavern than another room inside a castle, with nothing of interest. Caelar stood on the other end of the room with Hephernaan by her side and no one else, it seems.

"And so we reach the end of a long, long journey. If you only knew the sacrifices I made to bring us to this point. All of them worthwhile," Caelar said calmly.

"That's a matter of perspective," Ralis admonished her.

"Many soldiers gave up their lives to stop you, Caelar. Their sacrifices are the ones that matter," Duncan said.

"Change is upon us. Great and righteous change. You've come to face me, so do so! Now is our time," Caelar said, sounding calm and confident as usual.

Ralis pulled Severance and Albruin out of their scabbards and casually approached Caelar and Hephernaan. Oddly enough, Caelar did not draw her sword for battle, and Hephernaan seemed to act calm at first. Before Ralsi and his party could get eight feet close to Caelar, Hephernaan cast a spell that exposed thirteen elite crusaders who were invisible the whole time and froze everyone except Duncan and his soldiers, almost like the Hold Person spell.

"What the...? I can't move...!" Ralis grunted, trying to move his feet, but couldn't.

"The priest cast some kind of spell over us...!" Dynaheir said.

To Caelar's surprise, Hephernaan caught her in his spell as well, and it confused her as she tried to move her legs ot no avail, as if something is anchoring her feet to the ground.

"Hephernaan, you've caught me in your spell as well. I can't move," Caelar grunted.

Hephernaan flashed a grin, coming up to Caelar.

"Have I, now? How distressing for you. You'll just have to stand and watch as MY plan reaches fruition," he said, making it clear to everyone that he has been playing Caelar like a fiddle all this time.

"YOUR plan? What do you mean? Hephernaan, what are you doing?" Caelar asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"You'll find out soon enough, my puppet, once the devils begin their march into this world. Bleed, Bhaalspawn. Bleed for my master," Hephernaan sneered.

Hephernaan walked over to Ralis and pulled a dagger out of his robes, and cut the palm of Ralis' left hand. The blood trickled down the edge of his hand and fell to the floor. Then suddenly arcane energies swirled around in a circular motion, and the portal to Avernus below the feet of Caelar, Hephernaan, Ralis and his party opened up. The portal at their feet glowed with infernal light, illuminating the cavernous room.

"No...! NO!" Ralis exclaimed.

"Oh gods, no!" Jovan whined.

"You're outnumbered, Bence! Go for reinforcements, now!" Corwin shouted.

Bence slowly backed away in fear, his eyes wide, knowing that things are getting bad really fast.

"Gods help us all, they've opened the portal to the Nine Hells! Out, everyone! Get out and get the vault door licked NOW!" He exclaimed.

"Sir? What about...?" One of the soldiers said.

"Leave them. There's no time- we have to secure the vault immediately! Devils could flood this place any second!" Bence urgently interrupted the doubtful soldier then they all bolted out the vault doors with his soldiers, shutting the door behind them.

Now Ralis and his party are alone with Hephernaan, Caelar and her thirteen frozen elite crusaders. Hephernaan stepped into the center of the portal, entering Avernus.

"Hephernaan, what have you done? I will not let him corrupt our work by bringing forth an army of fiends! Crusaders, with me!" Caelar exclaimed, her anger broke her free from Hephernaan spell, then she went into the poeral after him, and her thirteen elite crusaders followed. When Ralis and his party were released from the freezing spell, they jumped into the portal after them.


	20. Chapter 20 An Old Adversary

**_"To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future."_**

 ** _-Plutarch_**

* * *

At first the world around them turned completely white around Ralis and his companions for a few seconds after the portal teleported them away from Dragonspear Castle's vault in the cellar, but soon the bright white environment faded into a completely new environment. A reddish dark, hot, hellish environment. As soon as their nostrils took in the heated air of Avernus, they caught the strong scent of brimstone and something that smells like curdled milk.

"Oh my gods, what is that smell?" Neera gagged, immediately not liking the scent of the air in this hellish world.

Avernus is the first layer of the Nine Hells. It is a vast, desolate wasteland of rocky terrain surrounded by rivers of magma in some areas and mountainous stalagmite cones. Ralis looked up at the starless, smoke covered sky and noticed that a dark red light suffused the sky, making their surroundings all the more hellish. There is no sun nor moon or stars in Avernus, just balls of flammable gas that either floats in the sky or streaks across the atmosphere, exploding into fireballs at random.

"Smells like brimstone and... I think that's spoiled milk. Yep, it's spoiled milk," Glint's said with a nasal voice because he was pinching his nostrils shut.

"And magma," Ralis added, taking note that solid ground in this area is surrounded by streams and rivers of magma.

He noticed in the lake of magma behind them, he saw the tortured souls of mortals who have passed away in the mortal plane and sent here to Avernus, seeing them desperately trying to swim out of the magma, shrieking in fear and pain, but they couldn't get out, because disturbingly horrific monsters that look like bloated man-sized blobs prevented them from reaching the shores, prolonging their torment. These man-looking blob monsters are called lemures. A lemure is a fairly weak demonic creature, no stronger than a human zombie, but their skin can heal wounds like a troll can, but they can still be defeated. Appearing as nothing more than a humanoid blob of stinking flesh that appears immune to fire and magma, and their disfigured faces are contorted and frozen in an expression of pain and anguish. They are 5 feet tall and seemingly weigh a hundred pounds or more. After a mortal soul has been tortured in the Nine Hells for centuries or millennia, its soul becomes fully corrupted by pain and hatred, then superior devils transforms the soul into a lemure using infernal power.

Ralis' ears couldn't take hearing the pained, terrified screams of the damned souls in the magma lake, trying to escape the grasp of dozens of hideous lemures holding them in the magma to no avail, and he couldn't help wondering if some, if not all of them, are the souls of mortals who deserved to be sent here after their physical life ended in the mortal plane, or were dragged here by the devils during the Dragonspear Wars. Ralis shook his head in denial.

 _No. If they aren't meant to be here, Zaviak's magical spectacles would have allowed me to see them back in Dragonspear,_ he silently told himself.

"I-I-I've never seen anything more horrific t-t-t-than this," Khalid said, causing Ralis to notice that he sees what he is seeing in the lake of magma.

"Hell is no place for heroes like us! With me, Boo! We will fight till this place is naught but ashes!" Minsc exclaimed to no one in particular.

After Minsc spoke, Ralis felt someone tap his left shoulder and he turned around to see who wanted his attention. It was Jovan who did it.

"Ralis, up ahead, look!" Jovan pointed northwest from their position.

Ralis peered ahead with his party and noticed 121 feet ahead across the magma covered fields to wider ground, they saw Caelar and her thirteen crusaders in combat against eight lemures, four hellcats, two black abishai, one green abishai, five red abishai and an erinyes. Hellcats, also known as " _bezekira_ ", are nine feet tall feline monsters resembling a lion, panther or leopard with 900 pounds of muscle of the Nine Hells that move about in the plains of Avernus, on the prowl for any opportunity to do evil. In light they appear invisible, but in complete darkness, the appear to be feline monsters with hot, ethereal wisps coming from their bodies, and their eyes burn with hellfire, hunger and rage. That said, since it is not entirely dark in Avernus, the hellcats fighting the crusaders with their devil allies are only visible as transparent feline figures and already two hellcats have viciously mauled two elite crusaders, not even going for the jugular but tearing at their armor and ripping their flesh and intestines, making their pain and suffering extreme. Abishai are averagely tall devils with skin colors that vary from colors red, blue, green, black and white, just like the five heads of the evil chromatic dragon goddess Tiamat, who is the adversary and sister of Bahamut. In fact, the abishai are known as the servants, guards and torturers of Tiamat. Erinyes are baatezu devils that appear as six foot tall physically attractive women and men with large dark red feathered wings and glowing yellow eyes. The erinyes fighting the crusaders with the other devils is named Illaruel and she appeared as a tan skinned beautiful human woman with dark red hair, dressed in form fitting black plate mail body armor with no armor plating covering her chest, offering a seemingly easy opening for opponents to end her life by stabbing their blade between her breasts, and she is armed with a longbow in her right hand and a short sword in her scabbard, her dark red wings folded behind her back as she watched the crusaders desperately fight.

Caelar and five of her crusaders found the opportunity to break away from the fight and run for the a nearby stairway that extends up 54 feet towards the sky, to a battered bridge in the distance, connected to a tall, imposing basalt tower, only to be waylaid by more abishai, imps, lemures and hellcats along the stairs, likely in pursuit of Hephernaan, leaving eight of her crusaders to fend for themselves.

"What the hell is she doing? Did she really leave half of her crusaders to fight those demons?" Corwin wondered aloud.

"Is catching Hephernaan so important to her?" Dynaheir also wondered.

"It seems to be, more than making sure her crusaders live to see their loved ones," Ralis said.

Then they walked across the barren field, heading towards the elite crusaders fighting the devils in an attempt to assist them.

Illaruel watched the closest hellcat to her tearing out the flesh and organs of a crusader who is still alive and suffering. Obviously she enjoyed hearing his screams of fear and pain joining the screams of the damned in the magma lakes along with the ripping noses of the hellcat's fangs tearing at his body, while the other eleven crusaders who are still alive and unharmed for the moment kept fighting.

"You should never had come to this place, mortals. But we're so very glad you did! Avernus welcomes all, after all," she grinned a predatory grin.

The crusader captain, a human man named Darnas, stabbed his sword into the molten flesh of a lemure, puncturing its heart and killing it, then as soon as he pulled his blade out of the creature's warm flesh, he had to immediately crouch to avoid the overhead swing of a green abishai's claws that would have raked his face if he didn't duck.

"Back, you devils! Back, I say!" He exclaimed fearfully while swinging his sword at the green abishai as if it were a flyswatter and slowly backing away from it, too scared to get close to the creature to do any damage to it.

"There is no going back for you, mortals, nor forward either. Your journey ends here!" Illaruel responded to the terrified crusader sergeant.

Ralis and his party were 46 feet away from the crusaders and devils at this point now, and still running.

"You know, I don't think I've ever slain a fiend before. This should be fun," Glint said.

Corwin took aim at one of the black abishai holding a hapless crusader by his neck, slowing to a walk so that her aim would be steady, then she fired. The arrow sailed 73 yards towards the black abishai and struck its neck, causing it to release the crusader. Illaruel noticed this and looked south, seeing six new mortals coming her way from the spot where the portal is.

"More mortals come to entertain the poxbringer Illaruel? How wonderful," she said then licked her lips in a predatory fashion. "Minions! Rip them to shreds and bring me their hearts!" She ordered.

Only the other black abishai Corwin didn't shoot at, the two red abishai and three lemures attempted to engage Ralis and his party, including Illaruel herself.

"Well, it should be fun for SOMEone at any rate. Watch out!" Glint exclaimed.

The devils had 34 feet left of open space to engage Ralis and his party in close range combat except for the lemures which are slow moving, while Illaruel kept her distance and fired an arrow, aimed for Ralis.

Minsc, Khalid, Jaheira, Jovan and Glint charged forward to engage the devils. Illaruel's arrow soared over Ralis' head by ten inches when Ralis sheathed his swords to pull out his own longbow. By the time he took aim at Illaruel, Corwin fired her own arrow at Illaruel, the arrow pierced her left thigh, causing her to shout in pain and collapse into a crouch on her good leg. Before she could attempt to fly, Ralis fired one of his void-tipped arrows, and the arrow's head hit her in the head between her eyes, killing her instantly before she could rise five feet off the ground. With Illaruel dead, everyone except Dynaheir, Neera and Corwin engaged the demons in melee combat. They killed the abishai almost easily, then they had to deal with the three lemures between them and the crusaders fighting the remaining devils. Ralis found out the hard way that being near a lemure is not only horrifying, but also disgusting because their body odor smells like five month old spoiled milk, which explains that scent among the smell of brimstone in the air. He held his breath while parrying their clawing arms and slashed at their flesh, which to his surprise, healed quickly like the skin of a troll. The smell of their body didn't bother Minsc at all. He cut their heads off with extreme ferocity, and when they arrived to help the crusaders, Darnas was clearly surprised to see Ralis, the hero of Baldur's Gate and his party coming to their rescue.

In less than 20 seconds, the devils were dead, but they could still hear the howls of demonic creatures in the distance somewhere many miles away to the west. If the direction the basalt tower is facing is west. Only three of the eight crusaders were killed, meaning only Darnas and four other crusaders are alive to thank Ralis and his party.

"You have our thanks, hero of Baldur's Gate. Without your help, we would surely be dead now," Darnas said, making a quick but respectful bow at Ralis.

"What, did you expect some other result when you charged headlong into the first layer of the Nine Hells?" Ralis asked him with sarcasm.

"Yes! We did! We didn't expect this, though!" An elf crusader man said.

"It has all gone wrong!" Darnas exclaimed in sadness. "We were to have your blood open the portal tendays ago. When we marched here, our numbers were to be legion! We never expected to have to hold Dragonspear for so long, never suspected Hephernaan would betray us, or our Lady would charge into darkness alone and unaided..."

Ralis pieced together everything, and it all adds up. The reason why the crusaders were desperate for more food and water from Bridgefort is they never expected to stay in Dragonspear Castle longer than they planned. The failure of the elites that were supposed to deliver him across the Coast Way crossing bridge then destroy it so the Flaming Fist armies can't follow derailed everything, forcing everyone to adapt. But one thing did not make sense, though. If Caelar needed Ralis to come to Dragonspear, why did she send crusader assassins to kill him?

"Is that why Caelar tried to kill me in Baldur's Gate? She needs my blood?" Ralis asked Darnas.

The man shook his head. "Not killed- kidnapped. You were no good to her dead. She needed divine blood. 'Tis the key that unlocks the door to Hell."

Ralis thought this information over while crossing his arms, trying to ignore the cries of the damned echoing in the smoke covered dark red skies.

"Okay. So, my blood, which comes from Bhaal, opens a portal to the Nine Hells instead of Caelar's blood, and Daeros said Hephernaan tried to open the portal with Caelar's blood, but he couldn't. My blood could do this probably because my father is an unholy god, and this is an unholy world. But Caelar's celestial blood comes from a Solar, a holy angel, which means... Caelar could not open the portal not because her Solar blood is heavily diluted by her human ancestry... Do you think Caelar's blood would be able to close the portal instead of opening it?" He asked Darnas.

He shrugged. "I have no idea, it is possible. If Caelar really can close the portal, we must go after her towards that gray stone tower over yonder, and make sure no devil slays her, or all hope of closing the portal will be lost."

"Then we have no time to lose! You and your crusaders are welcome to join us or guard the portal, make sure no demons enter our world!" Ralis said.

Darnas looked at his fellow crusaders, waiting for them to voice their opinions. A dwarf man stepped forward and said: "Personally, I think our best bet fer survival is by the hero of Baldur's Gate's side."

The other crusaders said their agreement.

"Even though we originally were not allies, and though I am a child of Bhaal, I will not fight either one of you. Besides, this situation changes things. Let's go after Caelar and set this right," Ralis said.

All the crusaders exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Again, we thank you. May the Lady- I mean, may Tymora favor us all," Darnas said.

While Ralis was talking to Darnas, Minsc was checking the inventory bag of a nearby slain crusader, hoping to find a small flask of water because he felt a bit thirsty, especially being exposed to this hellish heat, but all he found was some sort of red potion with black spots over the red coloring. Instead of discarding it, Minsc decided to drink it. It didn't taste like water or ale, but he didn't care at all, and he let Boo have a drink of the potion too.

* * *

After all had been said, everyone ran towards the long stairway leading up to the battered stone bridge. Along the way up the stairs, a few corpses of crusaders and many corpses of devils littered the pitted stairs. There were only two dead crusaders on the stairs, meaning Caelar and three other crusaders are the only ones left up on the bridge. When they reached the top of the stairs, they had a good bird's eye view of Avernus, seeing stalagmites big as mountains in the distance among the dark reddish-orange smoke covered skies. The bridge itself is wide enough for an entire army of giants to cross, but the bridge is not in good shape. There are holes here and there outlined in bright yellow as if magma burned through. Ninety feet ahead on the other side of the bridge between them and the dozens of corpses of lemures, imps and various colored abishai, they saw Caelar and her remaining crusaders fighting their way past the final few devils between them and the large iron doors of the basalt tower. The iron doors are molded in the visage of a damned soul. Looking upon the iron doors is to catch a fleeting glimpse of the horror Avernus has to offer.

"There they are!" Corwin pointed ahead.

"Let's go! They need help!" Ralis exclaimed and he led his party and Darnas and his crusaders across the bridge, avoiding every hole on the bridge.

Some of Darnas' crusaders sometimes nearly tripped over the partially invisible corpses of hellcats, but they kept moving with Ralis and his party regardless.

Caelar and her crusaders did not notice Ralis and the others coming their way, they were too busy fighting the demons. The three crusaders with Caelar were confused and afraid, but Caelar herself was not. In fact, she fought the demons with greater ferocity than they are doing, swinging Aster's Edge like a dervish and bashing her shield against the heads of the demons to lower their defenses, and they took notice of that during the battle. Caelar is mad as hell, likely because of Hephernaan's betrayal, and the crusaders had many questions for her, and they wanted those questions answered when the last demons between them and the tower's doors are dead.

Caelar chopped off an imp's head and she beckoned the last two abishai, one blue, the other white, to come at her.

" _Come then, you craven fiends! Come and meet your doom!_ " Caelar snarled at them, her glowing eyes scowling sharply with pure rage, then she charged straight at them, devoid of all fear.

She blocked one punch with her shield Solar Aegis, crouched while spinning with her sword arm outstretched to cut off the right leg of the blue abishai. When she stood upright after spinning in a crouch, facing the prone blue abishai, she sensed the white abishai behind her beginning to throw a punch at the back of her head, then without turning around, she twisted her body slightly then backhanded the white abishai's fist with her shield, batting it away, then the blue abishai tried to grab her while still lying prone on the ground but Caelar cut off its forearm then lopped off its head, cutting its scream of pain off abruptly, then she swiftly turned around to face the white abishai. She crouched, dodging the left hook of its left arm she blocked the right hook with her shield, then stabbed her sword into its chest, snarling like a rabid dog. The creature's dark red snake-like tongue rolled out of its mouth and its body went limp, and when Caelar pulled her sword out, its body collapsed, devoid of life.

With the last of the devils dead, Caelar sheathed Aster's Edge into its scabbard and attached Solar Aegis to her back, and without a single word to her three crusaders, she headed towards the door. One of the crusaders- a half-elf man with short dark hair and a mustache decided to question Caelar, though it is definitely not a good idea right now since Caelar is still angry about Hephernaan's sudden betrayal.

"Caelar- Caelar, wait! Please! Talk to us!" He exclaimed as he ran to catch up to Caelar and step in front of her, causing her to stop four feet from him.

She glared at him, but he never noticed that at all; he just wanted his concerns answered from the lady he respects because everything has not gone according to plan, and there are signs that the goals of the crusade is nothing more than a pipe dream.

"You promised to save my wife and my children from this accursed place, yet all you've brought us is more death. I look in your eyes now, and I see nothing but madness!" The crusader whined.

" _You call me mad?_ " Caelar growled at him in brewing outrage as her eyebrows frowned more sharply and her glowing eyes narrowed into slits.

She reached for Aster's Edge, the blade glowing bright blue when she pulled it out of her scabbard, and the crusader in front of her gasped in shock seeing her sword in her hand and backed away from her. The two crusaders behind her noticed this and gasped. Is she about to do what they think? Is Caelar Argent about to lash out at her own soldier?

" _I'll show you madness!_ " Caelar exclaimed in rage as she advanced towards the crusader backing away in front of her while pulling her right arm back, preparing to run her sword into the man's chest.

The man's back pressed against the wall near the tall iron door- he has nowhere to go now.

" _I'll-_ " Caelar stopped herself from stabbing forward at the last minute with the tip of the glowing blade six inches from the man's breastplate, and the man closed his eyes shut while baring his teeth, bracing himself to feel the sharp pain of Caelar's sword piercing his chest... but instead he felt nothing.

"No. NO," she told herself, withdrawing Aster's Edge and trying to calm herself down with success, and the man she almost stabbed finally opened his eyes and sighed in relief to see that Caelar calmed down from her unprecedented anger and sheathed her sword. "I'll not kill an innocent man. I've not fallen so far as that. But I cannot stop now."

She turned around to face her other crusaders, but her eyes didn't take notice of Ralis, his party and the remaining crusaders she left behind coming. "Do as you will. Join me or no, I care not," Caelar told her crusaders.

The three crusaders reluctantly agreed to follow her even though they had no idea what is going on.

"After her! She's our only hope to seal the portal," Corwin exclaimed, her voice close enough for Caelar and the crusaders with her to hear.

When Caelar opened the door, she finally noticed Ralis and the others standing 20 feet away.

"Your part in this is done, Ralis. Now let me do mine!" Caelar said.

"And let you go on this wild goose chase? Never! I know the truth! I know your reach exceeds your grasp! You can't free the dead of the Dragonspear Wars, Caelar. It can't be done!" Ralis shot back.

To his surprise, Caelar looked... pensive. He didn't know what she is thinking at the moment, but he doesn't know that Caelar felt a pang of guilt for deceiving her loyal followers.

"You may be right- I no longer know. But there's no turning back for me now. I swore an oath many years ago. I will keep it."

Caelar and her crusaders entered the tower, leaving the door open.

"Come on!" Ralis exclaimed, and the raced towards the door.

As soon as they got ten feet close, the doors slammed shut even though no one visible done it. Then to the right side of the iron doors, a portal lined with fire and bones appeared. Everyone stopped and watched the portal, waiting for whoever is about to step out. Nine seconds after the portal appeared, a devil stepped out, a horned devil known as a "cornugon". Cornugons are on average tall as an ogre, and their body is covered in scales hard as iron, they have massive wings, large curved horns and thin yet powerful tails.

"You have come far, Ralis. But Thrix the Profane's master would have you go no further... for now," the cornugon named Thrix said.

"Who is this master you speak of?" Ralis asked, a question he asked Jovan a few times before but never got a direct answer.

"You will meet him yourself, once he's done with the Argent. Assuming you survive that long, of course," Thrix said with an ugly grin, then he snapped his fingers. " _Fellow fiends! Attend Thrix! Tear this one apart, that he may see what it is made of!_ " Thrix exclaimed in Abyssal, the native language of demons.

Three red abishai teleported in front of Ralis.

"Wait!" Ralis called to his companions. "Thrix wants to see me in action. Let him do so," he said, drawing his swords for battle, then charging at the abishai.

Fighting them was no difficult feat, especially since they fought him armed only with their claws, and his swords can deflect their slashing claws, which damages their hands in the process. The fiends tried to gang up on Ralis, believing that their numbers would overpower him, but they were wrong. Perhaps if they had a sword and shield, they would stand a chance. Thrix watched in amusement as Ralis dodged and slashed, spilling the blood of his fellow fiends. Not one of them could scratch Ralis, and he expected that. He just wants to see a preview of how well Ralis would fare against his master. After the last red abishai fell dead after getting slashed across the neck by Albruin's blade, Ralis shook the blood off his swords and sheathed them, waiting for Thrix to respond. The demon applauded.

"You fight well, Ralis. Thrix the Profane is impressed," he said in Common. "Thrix's master bid him bar all but the Argent, for a time. And Thrix would not want to disappoint his master. UNLESS..."

Ralis didn't say anything when Thrix paused there, waiting for him to say what he is thinking.

"... If Thrix believed his master would not be his master much longer- if he believed YOU might slay his master- then Thrix might allow you passage. Master has been most vexing since the business with Crenshinibon. Thrix is weary..."

Jovan gasped as soon as Thrix said the name "Crenshinibon", for reasons the others did not understand, and Ralis does not remember.

"If Thrix REALLY wanted his master to fall, Thrix might offer more assistance than merely standing aside," Ralis said, hoping to manipulate Thrix into helping them in some way, after realizing that Thrix wants to usurp his master, as all evil creatures would.

Thrix chuckled. "You are in the first and greatest of the Hells, little thing. Nothing here comes free. But perhaps you might be interested in a wager?"

"Wager?" Ralis repeated, hoping that it is not a mortal's soul.

Thrix nodded. "Thrix has three items that might be of use to one who would storm the basalt tower." Thrix used a magic spell to make two magically powerful weapons and one piece of armor appear near his feet. "This blade," he pointed at the black longsword, "sharper than the loudest shriek." His right hand's index finger moved over to point at the helmet in between the sword and the quarterstaff. "This helm that cradles the head more softly than a mother does her newborn babe..." Thin his finger moved over to the quarterstaff. "This staff is gnarled and ugly- all but useless. But if you win my bed, it or one of the others would be yours," Thrix concluded.

"Dynaheir came up to Ralis and whispered: "Be careful, Ralis. Trusting the wagers of a demon comes with a heavy price."

Ralis nodded, but if he refuses without hearing what the bet is, they'll have to wait until Thrix's master is finished dealing with Caelar, which is not ideal, considering they need her to close the portal.

"I'll take your wager," Ralis accepted.

Thrix grinned, showing his sharp fangs. "Thrix is glad to hear it, though you should let Thrix finish telling you the terms before agreeing. For if you lost the bet, you will also lost one of your friends to Thrix's service."

"I said yes, and I meant it. Who do you want?" Ralis asked.

"Thrix thought you might. But who, who shall the profane one take take when- I mean if- you lose our wager?" Thrix scanned the crusaders and Ralis's party... until his eyes focused on M'khiin standing between Glint and Neera. "There is something about the goblin that walks by your side... Thrix is fascinated by her potential. If Thrix wins, if you cannot answer his riddle, he will take her."

Ralis didn't like that idea.

"M'Khiin's been too often treated as another's property- she deserves better and she'll get it, from me at least," Ralis said defiantly.

M'Khiin's eyes widened, speechless. She knew that Ralis would not turn her over to the fiend, after what happened with the goblinkin before they journeyed underground to Dragonspear Castle's cellar the other day, but it still amazed her that a human is refusing to sacrifice the soul of a goblin. No other human would, no creature would.

"Do you see that, little goblin friend? Our friend Ralis has the noble heart of a hero! To him, every one of us is valuable!" Minsc said to the goblin.

M'Khiin said nothing, but tears fell from her eyes.

"Here's the bargain, devil," Ralis began. "If I fail to answer your riddle, mine is the soul you will take. Agreed?"

What Ralis said shocked everyone. Even Thrix had to admit that wager takes a lot of courage to make.

"The child of Bhaal offers his own life?" One of Darnas's crusaders said in disbelief.

"You willingly gamble your own soul? Oh, Thrix LIKES you. And he agrees- you'll make a fina addition to his collection. And now, the riddle. You should like this, child of Bhaal. Thrix's riddle was devised for you and you alone. Now tell me what I speak of: A useful tool, though most despise it. In light, it can topple kingdoms; in shadows, it sustains nations. Paupers fear it daily, kings fear it deeply. You were born to serve it, but because of it, you will die. What is it?"

Ralis thought over the hints of the riddle carefully. The first thing that came to mind was poison, since deLancie asked him to use poison once to weaken the crusaders, and it is related to what paupers and kings fear, which is a silent assassination that they'll never see or hear coming... but no, poison can't be it. It is too obvious. However, Ralis recalled that the riddle was made exclusively for him, meaning the answer should be something he already knows, relating to his Bhaalspawn lineage.

 _I am a child of Bhaal, and my father Bhaal was the Lord of Murder... Murder is his tool, and most people despise it. In certain hands, the ability to murder strikes fear in kings because rival kingdoms can topple their own kingdom and keep their own kingdom in power, and paupers fear murder for obvious reasons... I was born to serve murder because of the title my father used to have..._ Ralis thought, and then he realized that the answer is right on the tip of his nose.

"You speak of murder, devil," he confirmed.

Thrix smiled and applauded. "You have answered my riddle. Aren't you clever? Clever, clever Bhaalspawn. Now choose your prize," Thrix gestured to the sword, helmet and quarterstaff near his feet.

"I don't want your rewards, Thrix. What I want is passage to your master's chambers," Ralis said in refusal.

Thrix nodded. "Fair enough. Thrix's master should be finished with the Shining Lady by now. Enter freely, and of your own will."

Thrix took the items and disappeared into his portal and it disappeared into thin air. Ralis, his party and the crusaders approached the door, pushed it open and walked inside.

* * *

Inside the basalt tower, the tormented screams of the damned are muted, much to everyone's relief, but the maggot stench in the room is overwhelming. The room is small and square shaped, the only way up is by riding on an iron lattice in the center of the room hanging over a shadowy abyss by four rusty chains on all four edges of the lattice. Everyone walked over to the iron lattice, hoping that the stench in this room doesn't cause them to black out.

"Ohh! Ugh! What is that rank stench?" Ralis groaned in disgust.

"I don't wanna know. I don't even want to know," one of Darnas' crusaders said.

While Dynaheir, Neera, Jaheira and Darnas looked up to see how far up the chains attached to the iron lattice go, Ralis looked over at the edge of the iron lattice they are on, he saw why the room smells so strongly like a den of maggots. Barely visible in the darkness of the abyss below, he saw many giant maggots the size of puppy dogs down below, writhing over each other, eternally searching for the corruption and rot that sustains them.

"Uh... whatever you guys do, don't fall off the edge of the lattice, okay?" Ralis warned everyone.

"Why?" Neera asked, obviously oblivious.

Ralis shook his head at her. "Don't ask. You don't want to know," he said.

Everyone checked around the lattice, trying to figure out how to operate it.

"How do we go up?" Khalid asked everyone.

"Hells if I know," one of Darnas' crusaders replied.

Ralis turned around and saw some kind of control panel with an arrow button pointing up.

"Hmm. Maybe this should work," he said as he approached the panel, pressed the arrow button pointing upwards, then the chains rattled suddenly, then they heard machinery grinding, and they felt the iron lattice lift them up into the air, taking them up the tower slowly.

"Floor's moving. Floors shouldn't move," M'Khiin said.

"Easy, M'Khiin, this is the only way we can progress to where Caelar went," Ralis said.

Two minutes passed, and already they lost sight of the bottom floor, and they couldn't see what is above either, however, the four braziers ablaze with fire near the chains attached to the grated iron platform provided some light, at least.

"Everyone stay alert. We don't know what we're heading into," Corwin advised everyone.

Not that everyone intended on relaxing. They are in the first layer of the Nine Hells, after all. This is no place to relax.

"I hope thou art not delivering us unto our doom," Dynaheir said.

"My toes are hungry. They need more evil butts to kick!" Minsc said.

Forty seconds passed, the iron lattice taking them higher and higher in the tower, and Neera and Glint became more and more restless.

"Are we there yet? Come on, COME ON... Cloakshadow's cloak's shadow, I am SO BORED," Glint moaned in frustration.

"FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THE GODS, I'm tired of feeling helpless," Neera whined.

* * *

At the roof of the tower with an amazing view of Avernus while Ralis and his group were held up by Thrix trying to figure out his riddle, Caelar's three crusaders are fighting four lemures, one green abishai and one black abishai while Caelar faces Hephernaan's master who stands next to Hephernaan himself. Behind Hephernaan's master in one of the cages is a man with tattered clothes, long red hair, thick curly beard and glowing eyes similar to Caelar. The identity of Hephernaan's master is none other than the baatezu known as Belhifet. The very same Belhifet that Jovan Goldmarsh and his party defeated back in Icewind Dale a long time ago, and the father of the demonic half-elf half-devil twins Isair and Madae, who were destroyed by Jovan and Felicia's own twins Oliver and Illivia several decades ago.

Caelar did not assist her crusaders fighting the demons, they were handling themselves fairly fine, her focus is on Belhifet standing between her and the man in the cage.

"You know what I want, Belhifet! Release him!" Caelar demanded.

Belhifet chucked, crossing his arms. "You make a mockery of your uncle's sacrifice in coming here, aasimar. But I will grant you your desire, after a fashion," he said, then reached for his two swords in his scabbards and pulled them out.

Caelar, armed with Solar's Aegis and Aster's Edge in her hands came at him, yelling in rage. Belhifet deflected Aster's Edge with the sword in his right hand, then swiped at Caelar with the sword in his left. Caelar ducked, parried and attacked, and Belhifet did the same, while Hephernaan cast fireball on the demons and crusaders near the large square hole in the room where Ralis and the others will soon appear. The fireball explosion killed the crusaders and the demons, leaving Hephernaan, Caelar, Belhifet and Caelar's uncle alone in the large room. Caelar dodged every strike Belhifet tried to throw at her, and Belhifet parried Caelar's sword every time she tried to attack him. Hephernaan smiled as he watched his master and Caelar fight, he knew that his master is holding back his true strength. He clearly wants to capture Caelar alive rather than dead because her soul is as valuable as the man in the cage.

After little more than three minutes of melee combat, when the lattice was bringing Ralis and his group up to the roof, Belhifet kicked back Caelar with his right goat-like leg with such tremendous force that she got knocked back eleven feet back and skidded to a halt, her head bumped on the dead body of a lemure, putting a stop to her slide across the floor. Caelar groaned and shook her head to stave off the dizziness. When she raised her head, she saw the blurry figure of Belhifet approaching her with Hephernaan at his side.

"You and Aun will be together again. Your cage will hang next to his!" Belhifet growled at Caelar as he approached.

Before he could get six feet close to Caelar, the iron lattice lifting Ralis, his party, Darnas and his crusaders finally appeared in view, and they saw Belhifet for the first time... except for Jovan, however.

 _Oh gods...! It's him...! It's really him!_ Jovan quietly gasped as soon as he saw Belhifet.

Belhifet stopped advancing towards Caelar and looked beyond her and the lemure corpse close to her head and took notice of Ralis and his party.

"Ah, the child of Bhaal. Welcome, welcome! You're just in time to witness the fall of Caelar Argent," he said.

Ralis frowned in confusion.

"I admit, it wasn't long ago I would have taken great pleasure in seeing the Shining Lady brought low. Now, I'm not so sure," he stated.

Hephernaan scoffed, crossing his arms and gloating.

"There's nothing you or anyone else can do to save her now, godling. She will hang in the hall of my master, and you will hang beside her," he said as he approached and came to a stop near his master.

"Damn you, Hephernaan!" Caelar shouted as she groggily stood up on her feet. "It was your treachery that brought me to this!"

"My treachery and your arrogance, "Shining Lady"," Hephernaan corrected her, giving her a smug grin, then he turned his attention to Ralis.

"This is the secret of Caelar's crusade, Ralis. There is only one soul in Avernus Caelar has ever cared for. Her uncle, Aun Argent- the man who sacrificed all to save her."

Ralis couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it! None of this makes sense! Caelar brought chaos to the Sword Coast just to rescue a single person in Avernus? Deceiving her crusaders into believing that her goal was to rescue their loved ones? She deceived and used her followers to attain a personal goal? He shook his head in shock and denial.

"This can't be. I can't believe it. The crusade, the carnage it wrought, the death and destruction it left in its wake- it was all for one man?!" Ralis exclaimed in growing outrage.

Caelar didn't respond, she just stood there with her back turned on him, facing Belhifet and Hephernaan so he is unsure if she felt regret or shame for what she has done. Knowing her, she probably doesn't feel any regret at all.

"When I offered her a way to free her uncle, she didn't hesitate. Thousands were killed or driven from their homes in her name. She did not waver. She would put all of Toril to the torch to ensure Aun Argent's release," Hephernaan explained with a wicked grin.

Ralis felt very uneasy to hear this. He wondered how can Caelar possibly justify her actions when Hephernaan made it abundantly clear that she will go to any lengths to rescue her uncle from captivity? This proves how dangerous she really is, not just to the people who fought against her crusade, but to her own followers.

"I wanted my uncle freed, yes. But if the Dragonspear dead could have been restored, I would have done so," Caelar said defensively.

"But you could not. No one could. And in your heart of hearts, you knew that," Belhifet admonished her.

"I don't know if I can forgive you, Caelar," Ralis berated her. "Causing so much death and destruction to save one man- I knew you were insanely driven by your motives, but this? What the hells were you thinking?" Then he turned his attention to Belhifet. "And you. I know your servant by name, Hephernaan, but I don't believe I know who you are, demon," Ralis said to him.

Belhifet nodded. "You have a point, Bhaalspawn. I know you, but you don't know me, so it's only fair I tell you who I am. My name is Belhifet."

Ralis blinked, recognizing the name from the stories Jovan told him about. He now understood why Jovan was so terrified when he realized that Belhifet is Hephernaan's master by hearing his voice from the lesser portal back in the cellar of Dragonspear.

"Belhifet? I recognize that name. You were the demon that terrorized Easthaven of Icewind Dale many decades ago, in the Year of the Cold Soul, I believe. My elf friend right here told me all about you, how he and his party kicked your ass and sent you down here," Ralis said.

Belhifet bristled. "What?! Who...?!" His eyes finally noticed Jovan next to Ralis. "Ah, it's you again... The wretched elf responsible for sending me here..." He growled at the elf.

"Hey there, Belly Fat, long time no see. Did you miss me?" Jovan waved hello at him, calling him by the nickname his old half-orc friend Xalorn called him.

Caelar turned around, looking at Jovan, then back at Belhifet, looking for answers to what is going on.

"You know him? How?" Caelar asked the demon.

"Ah, that is a fairly long story, my little aasimar, but it sheds light on my current predicament. It all started a few years ago before the Year of the Cold Soul. My rival, a marilith named Yxunomei and I were banished from the Hells to the mortal lands of Icewind Dale by our masters because our rivalry proved rather troublesome for them. In the barren, cold glaciers of Icewind Dale, I heard the calls of a very ancient yet very special and powerful artifact resembling a crystal shard known as Crenshinibon. Even after nearly nine decades of knowing the artifact's existence and having a small taste of its power, I still know very little about it, except that it has great power beyond your wildest imaginations, and able to create a majestic crystal tower. It also has mind of its own, and Errtu of the Abyss was very interested in Crenshinibon for some reason. So interested, in fact, that he was willing to fake pledging allegiance to an inept mortal mage that came into possession of the artifact 18 years ago. When I found it, it helped me amass an army to rival the army Yxunomei was creating to come after me, despite its overbearing nature, and I stationed them in an abandoned underground dwarf city called Dorn's Deep, and I disguised myself for a few years in human form and took the title and name of Revered Brother Poquelin, a false priest of Illmater."

"So that's why Hephernaan disguised himself as a pious priest, he was inspired by you," Ralis said, piecing together why Hephernaan was once known to the crusade as "Revered Brother Hephernaan".

"Exactly. Then, in the Year of the Cold Soul, 88 years ago, that elf..."

Belhifet pointed one of his falchion swords in Jovan's direction.

"... and his party of adventurers arrived in Kuldahar, a small village within the Spine of the World mountains and became a thorn in Yxunomei's side and mine. They defeated Yxunomei and her army, sending her back here to the Nine Hells, and next sought me out to deliver the same fate to me. The nuisances hounded me and my mortal lieutenants to no end. I tried to cover my tracks as best I could, but they eventually found me. When I attempted to open a portal to the Nine Hells like the one you used to get here, a priest of Tempus sacrificed his life to reseal it, forcing me to fight the elf and his friends. I fought them with everything I had, but it was not enough, I was defeated. That wretched elf right there is the one who delivered the killing blow, sending me here where I am forced to languish, learn from my failures and slowly restore my infernal power for 100 years before I am able to regain the power to return to the mortal plane! So long I was trapped here, unable to reach the Material Plane. And then this child walked willingly, blindly into my domain. No mere mortal either, but an aasimar, and an Argent, and mine, all mine."

"If she is yours, how does she fight against you now?" Ralis asked Belhifet.

"I offered him my soul in exchange for my niece's," Aun spoke up. "You should not have returned here, Caelar. I hoped, I prayed you would learn from your mistake, that time would bring you wisdom and humility."

"All in vain," Hephernaan said in mock pity. "She never forgot her uncle's sacrifice. Never forgave herself for his loss. And never stopped seeking a way to restore him."

"And so I have a Bhaalspawn and an old adversary to add to my collection. You, the elf, Aun Argent, Caelar- all will be part of my menagerie of souls," Belhifet said to Ralis, grinning excitedly.

Caelar sheathed Aster's Edge and placed her shield on her back, lowering her head in defeat, believing that she has done too much that has made her fall away from the light. She knew that Aun will not approve of her choosing allying with Belhifet and Hephernaan, but she does not want to be arrested or slain by the hero of Baldur's Gate, either. Both choices have terrible consequences, but she believed that becoming Belhifet's blackguard is a slightly more ideal choice than facing Ralis' justice.

"You have defeated me. I see that now. But consider a moment the ways I might be of use to you," Caelar told Belhifet forlornly.

Ralis, Jovan, Aun, Minsc, Dynaheir and Darnas gasped in horror, realizing that Caelar is seriously considering becoming a blackguard like Dorn. They knew that if she becomes Belhifet's blackguard, she will fight alongside Hephernaan and Belhifet against them.

"Caelar, no! Do not do this!" Aun cried out.

Belhifet tilted his head to the left in amusement.

"You would serve me, Caelar Argent? You would be a blackguard in service to Belhifet?" He asked her, wanting to make sure that she is not joking.

Ralis realized that he better pull Caelar back from the brink before it is too late. He spoke up before Caelar could utter a word.

"No, Caelar- you can't have fallen so far as that! Fight with me. Belhifet's death will be the first stone laid on the path to your redemption," Ralis exclaimed.

Caelar blinked in surprise, then turned to face Ralis.

"After everything I've done, you would have me at your side...?" She asked Ralis, sounding hopeful yet somewhat skeptical at the same time.

"I meant what I said, Caelar," Ralis said firmly with a nod.

Caelar rediscovered the determination she displays so often to her crusaders and nodded back at him, smiling, her lips curving upwards in a "U" shape.

"So be it! The child of Bhaal and the Shining Lady will stand together against the devil's darkness!" She declared proudly.

"You are as arrogant as my "mistress", Ralis. And you will share her fate!" Hephernaan growled, then he shape-shifted into his true form, a cornugon like Thrix.

* * *

"CHARGE!" Minsc exclaimed, charging towards Belhifet with his sword, along with two of Darnas' crusaders behind him.

"Minsc, wait! We don't know what-" Ralis began to protest, but it is too late.

Belhifet spread his arms wide, and let out a loud roar.

"Minsc!" Dynaheir exclaimed.

Hephernaan flew away from Belhifet's side when fire began to spread out from Belhifet's feet.

Minsc was almost 10 feet away from Belhifet when the fire began to build up, even then Minsc ignored the fires, he is completely focused on attacking Belhifet. Then as the fire rose up to the same height as his chest, Minsc continued charging through the fire at Belhifet, apparently not catching fire, especially Boo. The two crusaders were immediately engulfed by the fire and got burned to a crisp before they could cry out in pain. Minsc and Boo are surviving in the fire because of the potion they drank earlier, was actually a Potion of Fire Resistance, and they continued charging towards Belhifet, unharmed by the flames.

"SWORD, MEET- _oof!_ " Before Minsc could swing his sword, Belhifet kicked Minsc, causing him to fly out of the circle of fire and land close to Khalid's feet.

"Minsc!" Dynahier exclaimed.

"Don't worry, he's not dead!" Jovan said.

Belhifet's intent was to burn everyone who tried to get close to him in his inferno ring, but everyone except Minsc was smart enough not to charge at him head-on.

"Everyone get back!" Caelar warned everyone as they waited for Belhifet to emerge from the flames.

However, almost everyone forgot about Hephernaan he ambushed Darnas and his few remaining crusaders, trying to stab them with his military fork that is bright yellow at the sharp ends.

It only took seven seconds for Belhifet to emerge from the fire.

"Shoot him!" Caelar exclaimed.

Ralis and Corwin took aim with their bows and fired. They didn't miss, but they never got close to touching Belhifet's skin, he deflected the incoming void-tipped arrow with the flat side of his right falchion, sparks flew off the blade when the arrow bounced off of it, and a fraction of a second after, he managed to deflect Corwin's arrow with the flat side of his left falchion, growling like an angry dog with the fires ablaze behind him, then he made the blades of his swords catch fire and burn bright yellow. Everyone felt the Fear Aura emanating from the demon, but fortunately no one wet their pants or felt the urge to run away. However, Jovan's eyes widened when he saw the demon's burning blades, a trick he didn't have during their previous encounter, especially the ability to create a blazing inferno ring of fire around him.

"Uh-oh. He learned some new tricks," he said.

Next, Caelar, Jovan, Khalid, Jaheira and Ralis charged at Belhifet to engage him in melee combat.

"Hephernaan! Take care of the mages!" Belhifet commanded, remembering to never ignore a mage, a mistake he made years ago in Icewind Dale when he fought Jovan and his fellow adventurers.

"As you command, master," Hephernaan said, even though he was busy fighting Caelar's last crusaders, but he broke away from them by flying up towards the sky so that their swords can't reach him, then he descended down in front of Neera.

"Hi there," Hephernaan grinned at her.

"Oh, crap!" Neera raised up her staff to protect herself, and she managed to parry Hephernaan's first strike, and second.

"Don't worry, Neera! We'll save you!" Glint exclaimed, reaching for his mace and charged towards Neera, swinging his weapon at Hephernaan as he tried to stab the hot, sharp end of his military fork into Neera, but she kept batting it away with her staff.

Dynaheir assisted by casting a magic missile on Hephernaan, hurting him but not killing him, and M'Khiin, Darnas and his crusaders rushed to Neera's aid. Corwin fired an arrow at Hephernaan but missed.

Belhifet had difficulty keeping up with the combined, methodical attacks of Khalid, Jaheira, Ralis, Caelar and Jovan, but eventually after being slashed or stabbed by Khalid and Jaheira when he was forced to defend himself against Caelar and Jovan at the expense of leaving himself open, he didn't bother parrying or deflecting the weapons of Khalid and Jaheira anymore because their melee weapons turned out to be no threat. He mostly focused on Ralis, Caelar and Jovan, watching their every move and deflecting their every attack because he wasn't sure how strong their weapons are yet. Whenever the blades of Jaheira and Khalid struck Belhifet's skin, their blades bounce off as if his skin were made of rubber!

"What the?! We can't hurt him! It's like our blades are made of wood than steel!" Jaheira exclaimed

Ralis waited for an opening, watching Belhifet clash blades with Caelar, and when the opportunity presented itself, he charged at the demon, then stabbed his Severance towards his abdomen... only for the blade to pierce the plating of his armor but bounce off his skin! Ralis staggered back several feet as Jovan joined Caelar in combat.

"What the hell?! Why can't our swords cut or penetrate his skin?!"

Hephernaan swung his military fork around in a wide arc, hitting a couple crusaders, but not Darnas because he ducked, and Dynaheir and Neera ducked as well to avoid getting hit, then he flew over to Ralis, almost catching him off guard from behind, but Ralis could hear his beating wings and dodged. Hephernaan hovered in front of Ralis, barring his view of Belhifet in combat with Caelar, Jovan, Khalid and Jaheira 8 yards away near the iron lattice, grinning maniacally.

"Because, Ralis, my master's skin cannot be penetrated by your meager weapons! Your swords, your arrows, they are too weak to harm my master! Your defeat is inevitable!" Hephernaan sneered.

"No! I won't give up!" Ralis protested, and started swinging Albruin and Severance at Hephernaan angrily, and Hephernaan deflected each blow with his fork while hovering five feet in the air.

Dynaheir cast the Bless spell on Ralis, Neera tried to cast Ray of Enfeeblement on Hephernaan, but the spell had no effect on him.

"You annoying little flies! I tire of your antics!" Belhifet growled, getting annoyed at Khalid and Jaheira's feeble attempts to harm him.

Khalid held up his shield knowing an attack is coming, and Belhifet slashed one of his his fiery falchions at Khalid horizontally, denting his shield severely and knocking him off his feet.

" _WRRROOOAAARRR!_ " Belhifet roared, summoning another circular wall of fire to surround him to burn Khalid, Jaheira, Caelar and Jovan.

"Run!" Calear exclaimed.

Jovan helped Jaheira get Khalid back up on his feet and they got out of the spreading fire's radius, with Belhifet in the center, growling.

" _FEEL THE DEVIL'S FURY!_ " He bellowed.

Ralis and Hephernaan were fairly close to the fire, they could feel its heat, but they didn't need to move out of the way, at least. Ralis managed to cut Hephernaan in his left thigh, at least, then responding in anger, Hephernaan threw away his military fork, then detached the spiked chains around his waist, then started spinning both ends of the chain to ward off Ralis. A spiked chain is a two-handed melee reach weapon that is a length of metal chain whose last few links on each end are enlarged and enhanced with spikes. At the half-way point of the chain or the midpoints of the two halves, a link of the chain is often replaced with a ring for grasping. Hephernaan's spiked chain has rings for grasping.

Corwin never broke her focus on attacking Hephernaan, she took careful aim at him during his melee combat against Ralis, then fired when the moment presented itself. The arrow lodged itself into the right side of Hephernaan's chest, causing him to cry out in pain. Taking the opportunity, Ralis slashed Albruin at him. The blade connected, creating a gash across Hephernaan's chest. He screamed in pain and fell down to the ground. Ralis impaled him with Severance before he could call for help.

Belhifet sensed that Hephernaan died as soon as the fires around him died down.

"My servant! You killed Hephernaan! _Damn you!_ " Belhifet charged at Ralis, then Darnas' crusaders came to his rescue, allowing Ralis the time he needs to switch to his longbow.

He wasn't sure if the void-tipped arrows can harm him, but he must try, at least.

Belhifet had to contend with not only the crusaders, but also everyone else. With Hephernaan dead, he is all alone, and everyone is focused on attacking him, except for Minsc, who is still unconscious near the top left burning brazier. He was caught in the second wall of fire, but fortunately thanks to the potion of fire resistance, he and Boo still live. Belhifet snarled in rage, trying to attack everyone in melee combat against him, and feeling Corwin's arrows bounce off against his skin. Ralis who moved back to a safe distance, sheathed both Albruin and Severance, pulled out his Dead Shot longbow, notched a void-tipped arrow and fired at Belhifet.

The arrowhead pierced the skin on Belhifet's left shoulder, and he froze, then everyone stopped attacking him now. Belhifet felt the mild pain from the wound on his shoulder quickly welling up to severe pain. Sheathing his right hand sword, he reached over with his right hand and began to pull the void-tipped arrow out of his wound. He winced in pain twisting the arrow back and forth causing the arrowhead inside his skin to cut his flesh to make room to be removed, but he managed to pull it out. Once he did, he examined the arrowhead, and noticed that it is very different from conventional arrows. Someone forged it out of a special material. He couldn't believe it. One of the mortals hurt him for the first time!

Ralis smiled hopefully. As long as the last 23 void-tipped arrows successfully hit Belhifet, they might have a chance to bring him down.

"Guys! Defend me and distract him as best as you can! My special arrows are the only thing that hurts him!" Ralis called to everyone as he backed away, aiming at Belhifet while everyone attacked him with ranged to melee weapons.

Belhifet impaled the last of Darnas' crusaders, and cut Darnas himself in half, which means Caelar has no more crusaders left, she is alone with Ralis and his party. and Belhifet grew angry at the fact Ralis discovered his weakness.

"You dare?!" He started to advance towards Ralis, but he almost forgot about Caelar and Jovan and left himself open to be attacked.

Taking this opportunity, Caelar slashed at him with Aster's Edge, opening a wound under his armor, and Jovan attacked with Aihonen's sword, creating another wound and damaging his body armor more. Belhifet didn't expect the two mortals to have more weapons that are strong enough to cut his skin, and he is now under some mild pain, but he had no intention of giving up. After sheathing the sword in his right hand, he spun around with the sword in his left hand outstretched to keep melee attackers at bay, and he picked up the burned corpse of one of the crusaders that followed Caelar and proceeded to bat everyone with it. His intention is not to attempt to kill them but to subdue them so that he'll have enough time to get Ralis. Caelar got hit first, even though she had her shield held up, Jaheira got smacked by the burned corpse being used as a weapon, and Belhifet threw the burned corpse at Corwin, causing her to roll aside. Dynaheir and Neera were the only ones conscious, but they had no more offensive magic spells to attack Belhifet with, and their melee weapons would do no good either. With almost everyone subdued, Belhifet grinned at Ralis while pointing one of his swords at his direction... and he turned invisible.

Ralis felt his heart almost leap out of his chest. He knew the demon is coming at him, but from which direction, he didn't know, so he continued backing away. He didn't know that he is backing himself up towards the edge of the roof, all he was focused on is putting distance between him and invisible Belhifet. Unaware that he is close to the edge of the roof now, Ralis was about to put his right leg back, then he felt no solid ground, just air behind him.

"Whoa!" Ralis gasped, almost losing his balance, and he misfired his arrow. Unbeknownst to Ralis, he almost hit Belhifet with his misfired arrow, it just sailed right between the two horns on his head.

Belhifet chuckled, knowing he has the young human cornered.

Knowing the demon is close, Ralis quickly dropped his longbow, then tried to pull Severance out of its scabbard before Belhifet gets close enough to strike him down with his swords, but he wasn't fast enough. Belhifet swung the falchion in his right hand at Ralis, and Ralis tried to parry holding Severance up, but the demon's strength is greater, he knocked Severance out of the young human's hand, and it fell down the tower, and after attempting to attack the young human the invisibility spell wore off, making Belhifet visible again.

"Damn it!" Ralis cursed.

Belhifet let out a triumphant chuckle before swinging at Ralis's head with the falchion in his left hand. Before that happened, Ralis lost his balance and fell off the roof almost on purpose, but his hands caught the edges, causing him to dangle 80 feet above solid ground.

"Ralis! No!" Corwin exclaimed.

Caelar and everyone else recovered from being knocked unconscious while Dynaheir cast the Strength spell on Jovan, and Neera tried to cast a spell but the wild surge caused Dynaheir to change different hair colors temporarily, flashing from yellow, green, red then back to black.

Belhifet towered over Ralis at the edge of the roof, looking down at him, chuckling evilly.

"My my, what a precarious situation you've found yourself in, Bhaalspawn," Belhifet said.

He readied his sword to strike one of Ralis' hands. Ralis started sweating profusely. Either he lets go of the edge, or Belhifet will cut his fingers off! As soon as Belhifet swung his left arm down, Ralis moved his right arm out of the way, releasing his grip on the edge, holding on to the edge only with his left hand the moment one of Belhifet's swords scratched the stone surface where Ralis' right hand fingers were, causing fire sparks to fall down on his face!

"Aaah! Aah!" Ralis yelled fearfully, dangling by his left hand holding the edge.

"One more left, and you will begin your plummet to your doom!" Belhifet sneered.

He prepared to raise his sword! Ralis closed his eyes! Just when all seemed lost...

" _Auugh!_ " Belhifet yelled.

Caelar leaped on Belhifet's back and impaled Aster's Edge into Belhifet's back, causing him to drop his left hand sword down the tower! He turned around, trying to reach for Caelar on his back but he couldn't. Then Jovan reached the edge, grabbed Ralis' right hand and pulled him back up.

"Thanks!" Ralis said.

"Don't mention it!" Jovan said.

Caelar jumped off Belhifet and he staggered away from them still in pain, and Caelar joined Ralis and Jovan.

"We are the only ones who possess the weapons that can harm him! Come now, with me, let's end this fiend!" Caelar informed Ralis and Jovan.

"Right!" Jovan nodded.

"I'm with you!" Ralis nodded as well.

At that moment, Belhifet recovered, still feeling a bit woozy, but still possesses some fight in him, having only one sword in his hand left after losing his other one. He turned his head and spotted Ralis, Jovan and Caelar standing side by side together 16 feet away from where he stood, staring at him with determination in their eyes.

"You damned mortals! Your suffering will be legendary throughout all the realms!" Belhifet bellowed angrily.

Ralis took aim at Belhifet with his longbow and said: "I think we're the ones who will make your pain legendary."

At that, Caelar and Jovan charged towards Belhifet, working as a coordinated team to keep him unbalanced and unfocused. Belhifet swung his swords, trying to hit the two mortals, but his swings were sluggish, plus, being shot by more void-tipped arrows made him feel a bit more groggier with the more blood he loses, and in addition to being shot with more arrows, it felt painful for him feeling the arrows that are already stuck on his body hang onto his skin like acupuncture needles. When it became apparent that the demon can no longer swing his sword accurately, Caelar and Jovan moved in on the offensive! They damaged his armor and created more and more wounds on his body! Belhifet couldn't keep up with them, but he remained defiant. When he tried to swing his falchion at Jovan's head, Jovan ducked, and with one swift motion, he brought Aihonen's sword slashing upwards, and the blade cut into Belhifet's wrist like butter!

The demon screamed in pain as he felt his right hand go numb and he dropped his sword. His right hand is still attached to his arm, but not entirely, the right hand dangled freely on the uncut skin, and then Caelar slashed at his left leg, Aster's Edge cut off Belhifet's left leg, causing him to fall forward, landing on the floor. For the first time in his life, as he tried to crawl away from Jovan and Calear on his good hand and leg, he felt pure terror for the first time, knowing that unlike dying in the mortal plane, if he dies here in the Nine Hells, he will stay permanently dead.

" _No! Please, no! This can't be happening! I can't die here!_ " Belhifet whined fearfully as he desperately tried to crawl away on one arm and one leg, quickly losing blood, his eye vision getting blurry and fading, the pain wracking his body extreme.

He stopped crawling when he saw the blurry figure of Ralis step in front of him, standing ten feet away in front of the southeastern brazier on the iron lattice, pointing his longbow at his head. Belhifet knew now he cannot escape his fate. Death will claim him with no chance of his return guaranteed.

" _After all this time... this cannot be the end. This cannot... be!_ " He wheezed just seconds before Ralis let go of the bowstring, and the void-tipped arrow flew towards his face, and the whole blurry world immediately turned to blackness as soon as the arrow struck.

Belhifet's body rose up a few feet from the ground, but immediately collapsed, and nothing else happened. His body remained still and lifeless.

* * *

"Is he dead, Jovan?" Ralis called to him.

Jovan walked up to the dead demon and kicked him in the ribs.

"Dead as dead can get," Jovan confirmed.

Neera and the others were checking on Minsc, who is just now regaining consciousness since the battle began.

"What happened? Did we win?" Minsc asked as he rose up in a sitting position.

"Yes, Minsc, we did," Jaheira nodded, smiling in relief.

Caelar took the keys from Belhifet's corpse and ran over to Aun Argent's cage, her glowing eyes moist with tears, and Ralis followed behind her. She unlocked the cageusing the keys and the door swung open.

"I can scarcely believe it. Everything I did, every sacrifice I made, all to reach this moment... You are free at last, Uncle," Caelar said, her voice cracking with happiness.

Aun, however, did not look pleased at all.

"I know not what you did to make this happen, Caelar. Whatever it was, the cost was too great."

"You have no idea how right you are," Ralis said in a displeased tone.

Aun stepped out of the cage and sighed in disappointment. "I sacrificed myself to ensure my niece never saw this place again. You knew my wishes, Caelar. Why would you defy them?"

Tears rolled down Caelar's face after she heard him say that.

"Do you think so little of me, Uncle? Did you truly believe I would leave you to rot in the devil's claws?" She asked meekly.

Aun frowned in severe disapproval.

"I expected my niece to honor her uncle's wishes. How long has it been since we last spoke, Caelar? Have you learned nothing in all those years?"

Ralis grew more and more curious the more he heard Aun speak of Caelar's disloyalty. He knew from Corporal Duncan's field report that the Order of the Aster in Waterdeep do not like to speak of Caelar to anyone, and because of that, no one knows why Caelar left the Order and created the crusade with Hephernaan.

"What's this? Caelar and I have our differences, no question, but I am shocked by what I see here. Where is your gratitude?" Ralis asked Aun.

"The better question is, where is mine?" Caelar asked, apparently confused and sad by her uncle's disapproval.

Then she decided to tell Ralis her story.

"I was brought up in the Order of the Aster. My aasimar heritage and the Argent name assured me a place of honor as a paladin of the Morninglord. Or so I thought at the time. I had such confidence then. Such certainty of purpose. I knew I would rise to greatness, knew it in my bones. All that barred my ascent were my superiors in the Order. They sought to teach me humility; I see that now. But I was arrogant. I could not bring myself to bow to their authority. To any authority but Lathander's, perhaps not even his. I was told to watch over the library. To guard the volumes within, for they held knowledge critical to the Order's success in the battle against darkness. I coveted that knowledge. In my arrogance, I read aloud from the pages, not understanding the forces I was invoking..." Caelar paused to wipe the tears falling down her face. "That was how a girl not yet ten years old found herself in this pit, in that cage," she added, pointing over at the cage next to the one Aun was in.

"We all make mistakes," Ralis said.

"She had come here willingly, if in ignorance. By the Nine Hells' laws, she was Belhifet's. An innocent. An aasimar. An Argent. A soul with value beyond measure," Aun explained to Ralis. "All I could do was offer another soul, in trade. One without the stain of arrogance. One that was of the Argent line, of a paladin at the height of his powers. I made the sacrifice hoping that Caelar might someday find redemption for her sins. But she is here before me and I now know she chose another path."

"A heavy toll was paid, by me and those who followed me. A heavier one still was exacted from those who stood in my path, like the man behind me. Am I without regret? No. Would I do it again? Without hesitation," Caelar admitted.

The words _without hesitation_ echoed in Ralis' mind, and it gave him the impression that Caelar has learned nothing from her mistakes.

"If you'd hesitated just once in your life, one time somewhere along the line, countless lives might have been spared," Ralis scolded Caelar. "I too have paid heavy tolls in my life. I've killed men sometimes at the expense of my own survival, and sometimes because it seemed I had no choice but to. But there was this one time I hesitated in killing a man even though there was the possibility that he might continue to come after me for accidentally ending his uncle's life just because I refused to kill a group of druids for him. Hesitation is not a moment of weakness, it provides a moment of a new perspective. I've killed because I once believed that I had no other choice. But there are alternatives, Caelar, all you have to do is stop and look."

Caelar lowered her head for a moment, then raised her head, looking up at the dark red sky at a huge fireball flying across the sky 600 meters above their heads.

"Lives are lost every day with no purpose that any but the gods can see. Those who sacrificed themselves in my name have saved a great man from an unjust fate," Caelar said.

"But you deceived your followers, Caelar! You led them to believe that their loved ones can be saved too! You lied to them, just to save your uncle! Rationalize your actions all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that you caused destruction, lied and decieved!" Ralis retorted.

Caelar seemed unfazed by Ralis' words.

"You may admire me or not, as you wish. I am an Argent. I hold myself to the highest standard. I know I did evil, though I did it in pursuit of good. I must answer for my crimes," she said.

"And you will, once we're out of this damned inferno. Let's go," Corwin said.

Everyone stepped on the iron lattice and it took them down into the tower.

* * *

Several minutes later, Ralis, his party, Caelar and Aun were descending down the stairs. They were halfway to the ground level when they heard the deep echoing laughs of demons devils close by, making the hairs on Ralis' arms stand on end.

"I don't like the sound of that. Let's move!" Ralis exclaimed.

When they got down the stairs and looked northwest from Belhifet's tower, they saw a legion of devils coming at them from across a vast field. They are fairly far away, probably 410 meters away, but it is easy to tell that there are likely more than 700 devils. Legions of devils are known to march across the plains of Avernus in continual readiness for the next battle of the Blood War. The fact that the army just happens to be marching near Belhifet's tower at this moment is pure bad luck.

"Oh no..." Aun moaned fearfully. "I think that's part of the Blood War army, and they spotted us. We need to get out of here and close the portal, now!"

"Go!" Khalid exclaimed.

Everyone made a run for the portal ahead, Caelar carried Aun in case he trips and falls. When they got to the portal, Caelar let Aun rest on Minsc so he won't collapse from exhaustion.

"Enter the portal, quickly, all of you. I'll not be returning to Toril," Caelar told them.

Aun's glowing eyes widened.

"What? No, Caelar, I'll not allow it," he protested.

"Nor will I. You will return to Toril, Mistress Argent. You must answer for your crimes," Ralis said.

"The portal can only be closed from this side. Someone must remain behind. I shall sever Avernus's connection to Toril, and then stand guard. Whosoever wishes to cross the threshold to Dragonspear will first face Caelar Argent," Caelar said, looking ahead at the incoming hordes of demons.

She turned to face her uncle and former adversary.

"I can do nothing to change the past. What future I have is here, in this place. That was true from the moment I first summoned Belhifet. Uncle, please, go now, before Avernus's legions overtake us. Do what you can to redeem the Argent name of the shame I brought upon it, I beg you."

Aun's first instinct was to refuse her request, he does not want to leave his niece to this fate, but he stopped himself from protesting, realizing that in her own way, she is paying for her mistakes, even though she does not consider them mistakes.

"I... May Lathander's light shine upon you, child," was all Aun said to her.

"Let's go," Corwin said, then jumped into the portal first.

Then M'Khiin jumped in the portal second, then Khalid, Jaheira, Jovan, Minsc, Dynaheir, Neera, Ralis and Aun. After they were all gone, Caelar stepped near the edge of the portal, stretched her right hand out, then used the tip of Aster's Edge to make a small cut in the palm of her right hand, and she let a drop of blood fall on the portal, then the arcane energies fizzled out for six seconds, and the portal disappeared, all that remains is a bright circular outline of where the portal used to be.

The truth is, Caelar could have sealed the portal from the Mortal Plane's side instead of Avernus's side, but this is the fate that she wanted. She strongly believed that the mistake of reading that book that sent her to one of Belhifet's cages was a price that was meant for herself to pay for alone, not her uncle or anyone else. She opened her eyes and pulled out her shield and sword. The demons are getting closer now.

"I am Caelar Argent, of the Order of the Aster. Am I a paladin? No. Am I a blackguard? No. Then what am I? I do not know. I have done great things, and I have done terrible things. But no matter my methods, it is my noble intentions that reflect my character, no matter what road I choose to take in order to reach it. If I make a mistake, I am willing to pay for it. Though the line between good and evil is a thin one, I remain strong and steadfast in my faith, for I am a mortal descendant of powerful champions of good... _Do you craven fiends still wish to face me?! Then come at me, and learn from the folly of your arrogance as I have! HAAAAA!_ " Caelar charged at the demons head-on!

She jumped into the crowd of demons, cutting up abishai and hellcats, maiming erinyes, and dodging or blocking the attacks of malebranches and pit fiends that tried to gang up on her. Those who were superficially or mortally injured by her Aster's Edge sword suffered great pain since the sword hurts devils, demons and fiends more than anything else it strikes, but they kept coming, and Caelar's rage is relentless, piling up more and more bodies every six seconds. She had a lot of work to do, and so many demons to fight. How long can she possibly last?


	21. Chapter 21 Dark Circumstances

Ralis and his party found themselves back inside Dragonspear Castle's cavernous vault. There were no torches in the room, and the room itself is almost pitch black. Ralis, Neera and Jovan were relieved to hear utter silence instead of the near and distant screams of tortured mortal souls back in Avernus.

"We're back. We're finally back," Neera said in relief.

"I went to Avernus and came back. I really did. And nobody who wasn't here will ever believe it..." Glint said.

"It's done. Thank the gods," Corwin exhaled, wiping the sweat off her face using her left forearm.

"We're home, Boo!" Minsc happily said, then gave Boo a hamster food pellet.

"The rift 'twixt the worlds is finally closed," Dynaheir said.

"Nowhere to go but up," Neera said cheerfully, pointing up at the ceiling.

Ralis smiled, glad to hear how his allies are relieved to be back in the Prime Material Plane. He now understood firsthand why mortals fear the Nine Hells. Just being in that place longer than a tenday would be enough to drive any sane person mad with insanity. Ralis looked over at Aun, recognizing him by his distinctly glowing eyes. The man is clearly depressed that his niece chose to stay behind in the Nine Hells.

"Aun? Are you all right?" Ralis asked with concern.

Ralis saw his hand wipe tears from his eyes even in this dimly lit room.

"I'm fine, thank you. The gate is sealed and Caelar... she has done what she must. It feels strange to be back in the world again. I must put my life back together," Aun replied.

"The travel back to Waterdeep will be long. Be sure to to get plenty of food and drink for the trip," Ralis advised him.

Aun nodded. "I appreciate your concern. Let's get out of here."

The group headed towards the vault door. Ralis approached close to it and pushed the door open, revealing five Flaming fist soldiers, four Daggerford soldiers and six Waterdhavian soldiers aiming their bows and crossbows at them! Cedric deLancie and Bence Duncan stood behind the archers, and they immediately recognized Ralis and his party, and they instinctively knew that their soldiers might open fire on them, being on edge over the danger of facing demons from the Nine Hells, especially when one of the soldiers shouted:

"DIE, FIEND!"

"Hold your fire!" deLancie shouted. "Everyone, hold your fire!"

All the soldiers lowered their crossbows and bows, allowing Ralis and his party and Aun to step out into the hallway.

"It's okay! We're back!" Ralis called.

Cedric and Duncan approached Ralis, looking surprised as if they expected to see a horde of demons pour through.

"Ralis. It's... good to see you. What happened?" deLancie asked him.

"That is a very long story," Ralis replied, then exhaled.

Cedric couldn't help but smirk at that remark. It means that a lot of interesting things happened.

"I look forward to hearing it," Cedric said, the tone of his voice showing that he can't wait to hear the whole thing.

"What's the situation, General deLancie? What has been happening since we were gone?" Corwin asked.

"Our forces are continuing their sweep of the castle, checking for traps or pockets of resistance. The surviving crusaders have either fled or surrendered. The siege is ended, as is the threat of the Nine Hells. I believe the time has come to celebrate," Cedric replied.

As soon as deLancie said the word "celebrate", the archers around them whooped and cheered, overjoyed that the hero of Baldur's Gate has once again saved the Sword coast from another major threat. Bence Duncan looked around incredulously at the soldiers as if he expected something more spectacular.

"Is that all you've got for the savior of Dragonspear? You can do better than that! Three cheers for the hero of Baldur's Gate!" He exclaimed to them.

The cheering and whooping of the soldiers intensified, and they applauded too, the sounds of dozens of hands clapping in unison rang in the ears of Ralis, his party and Aun's. Duncan approached Ralis and shook his hand.

"I'll admit I had my doubts about you, Ralis, but you proved yourself more than worthy as an ally. I'm honored to have fought beside you," Bence said, the admiration in his voice making his words sincere.

"The pleasure is all mine, Bence," Ralis placed his right hand on Duncan's shoulder.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on Skie. With Caelar defeated, there will likely be some revelry, and she can be... overly celebratory, if you grasp my meaning," Duncan said.

"Oh. Oh, no," Corwin shook her head smiling.

"I got a pretty clear idea on what you mean, Bence. Go, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," Ralis said, smiling.

Duncan gave Ralis a salute, then turned on his heel and walked down the hallway.

Ralis and his party and Aun proceeded to move down the hallway, weaving their way past the cheering soldiers. Some of them took the time to say a few words, saying how much they admire him, and they hope to name their unborn child after him, things like that. As they walked down the hallway, Corwin walked next to Ralis, holding his hand.

"We did it, Ralis. It's all over," Corwin said, smiling.

Ralis looked over at Schael and smirked in amusement.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile like that before, Schael. You should do it more often," he said.

Suddenly, Corwin made Ralis stop walking, and made him face her.

"Come here. I want to kiss you," Corwin said.

Ralis smiled. "And I want to let you," he said.

As soon as Corwin and Ralis locked lips, the soldiers around them whooped in amusement, seeing the steamy scene in the hallway, even Neera, Glint and the others felt a bit awkward witnessing this.

"Whoo! Get some, hero!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.

"Get your man, Captain Corwin!" A woman who is a Flaming Fist soldier exclaimed.

"I'll take your words over roses any day, Ralis," Corwin said after she and Ralis pulled their lips a few inches apart.

As soon as Ralis and Corwin stepped out the hallway with their allies behind them, they were greeted by more people applauding them in the wide room surrounded by metal gates on both ends.

"I'm almost there, Rohma. I'll be home soon..." Corwin said with a smile, looking up at the ceiling in a hopeful manner, likely because she originally thought she wouldn't live to see her daughter again.

"Not nearly soon enough. But at least we're alive to make the trip. That's no small thing considering," Ralis said as he led hisl over and party towards the open gates to their left, heading towards the stairs that will take them up to the main floors of the castle.

"Come back to Baldur's Gate with me, Ralis. I'll smile a lot more once I see my daughter again," Corwin said after they passed through the metal bar gates.

"And will Rohma smile to see me, do you think?" Ralis asked, even though he knew the answer already, he just wanted to know Corwin's thoughts.

"If I have to choose between you and her, you must know who I'll go with. But she wants me to be happy, and she's a sharp kid. I think she'll approve," Corwin said as their feet began to take them up the stairs.

Word quickly spread around that the hero of Baldur's Gate has come through once again. Many Daggerford and Waterdeep soldiers rushed to Ralis to praise him for his heroic deeds. He was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of respect he has gained in such a fairly short time. A few months ago he was simply known as the hero of Baldur's Gate. With this victory, he might have a greater title than this.

Hours passed and during the evening of 20 Hammer, 1369 DR, the celebration fest finally got underway. Raypheus and Duncan cooked stew, turkey, corn, fig cakes, strawberry cakes, and last but definitely not least, a Luskan dish called "brassla", which is boiled rice which was added to finely chopped and fried eel, fish, frog, mouse, onion, and oyster. At one point during the celebration, while Raypheus Goodtree and Duncan were preparing the food, Ralis walked around Dragonspear alone, searching for his party members who didn't go with him to Avernus. He found Pfaug, Viconia, Voghiln, Safana, Patrescus, Dorn, and Edwin standing in line at the former crusader mercenary section tent site in the outer ward waiting to get paid the gold they were promised to help fight against the crusade.

"There you guys are!" Ralis called out to them, because he had spent thirteen minutes walking around Dragonspear Castle searching for them.

"Ach, look a' this. The bloody hero of Baldur's Gate honors us with his presence," Pfaug sarcastically said while rolling his eyes.

Ralis couldn't understand why this duergar is so bitter.

"We all contributed to this night's victory, duergar," Ralis admonished the grumpy ebony skinned dwarf.

"Not all of us will be so celebrated as you, O "hero"," Viconia reminded him, standing behind Pfaug in the line.

Ralis had to admit she is right. The supporters won't get as much attention as the leader of the band.

"Ye think the sheepherders an' the turnip picklers be singin' Pfaug's praises? Ye're mad, human. But ye did good work wi' the Shining Witch an' there's no doubtin' it," Pfaug said.

Ralis nodded as the Flaming Fist soldier gave Pfaug 2,000 gold for his contribution to defeating the crusade.

"You're right, Pfaug, I overestimated the attention you and everyone else who helped me will get. Just remember, even though bards will sing songs about me in the near future, know that I will be the only one to remember you," Ralis said.

"Feh! Until ye die o' old age," Pfaug scoffed, stepping out of the line to let Viconia get her gold.

"Hey! I don't plan on being single forever! I'll tell my kids about you and everyone else," Ralis promised.

"Really? You plan on having children, Ralis?" Viconia asked him, then turned her attention to the man handing her the bag full of 2,000 pieces of gold.

"Considering the attention and fame he will have in the near future, I'm sure Ralis will have no problem finding the right woman. Who wouldn't want to be married to a famous hero? Patrescus behind Safana said.

"I would," Safana said.

"Agh, I knew you'd say that!" Ralis rolled his eyes.

"What? Does the idea of spending time with me get you excited, champ?" Safana winked at him,

"Safana, I'm taken!" Ralis exclaimed.

She raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Really? Taken by who?"

"By Captain Schael Corwin, of course," Ralis replied.

Safana blinked in surprise. "You ended up with her?"

Ralis thought she would get mad, but she didn't she just shrugged indifferently.

"Oh well, then, your loss. You two have fun, okay? I'm going to go get a drink as soon as I get paid," she said.

As if on cue, Voghiln, who happened to be passing by carrying a crate full of mead with Mizhena who is also carrying a crate full of mead or ale said:

"Did you say drink? The Lion of Luskan is here to offer you what you need! And maybe more, ja?"

"Ugh!" Safana turned her head away in disgust. "That oaf makes me miss Coran!"

 _"(Monkeys talking about reproducing. Bah. The world would be better off with these Neanderthals infertile),_ " Edwin mumbled to himself.

"Are you talking to yourself again, Edwin?" Ralis called.

Edwin bristled in outrage. "W-What?! No, I was monologuing to myself!" He retorted.

"That's the same as talking to yourself, wizard," Viconia corrected him.

Edwin said nothing, he just grunted in annoyance.

A few hours later that night, everyone ate food, drank ale, danced and singed different songs. Everyone had the time of their lives, except for Viconia, Edwin, Glint, Dorn, Neera, Voghiln, M'Khiin, Pfaug, Rasaad and Baeloth because they departed Dragonspear and went their separate ways. Viconia left because she knew that she wouldn't be welcome long, Glint left because he wanted to tell his mom everything that happened, Dorn left for reasons he wouldn't explain to Ralis, M'Khiin left because she did not want to overstay her welcome, but she thanked Ralis for treating her the way no one else has ever done, or will ever do. Rasaad left because he wants to find out what is going on between the Sun Soul monks and the Dark Moon monks, Baeloth left because he said that he has plans for some new form of entertainment, whatever that means, and Viconia left because she knew like M'Khiin that she won't always be welcome. Voghiln left as well, with the intention of going back to Luskan, but not before giving the bastard sword Kondar back to Ralis, since he lost Severance back in Avernus. Neera left because she said she had important plans about the Order of Eight Staves. Edwin departed early because he couldn't stand being by monkeys forever, or so he claimed. The only people who decided to stay for the party were Jovan, Khalid, Jaheira, Corwin, Safana, Minsc and Dynaheir.

Ralis partied for hours until midnight, and in the keep, he and Corwin were about to retire to their selected chambers until Sergeant Dazzo of Waterdeep, another admirer of Ralis, waylaid them.

"Well met, Ralis, I must say it is an honor to meet you finally, after all the attention you've been getting. I am Dazzo of Waterdeep, and if I may say, it has been an honor to fight alongside the former hero of Baldur's Gate."

Ralis frowned at the word he said. Does Dazzo mean that his title is changing?

"Former hero of Baldur's Gate? Have you heard something I haven't" Ralis asked the fawning sergeant.

Dazzo smiled. "Baldur's Gate can no longer claim you for its own. You represent more than a city- you are a champion of the Sword Coast and all the realms."

"Look, Dazzo, I appreciate your flattering words, but right now, all I represent is an extremely tired man," Ralis said.

"I apologize, sir, I am sorry. Enjoy the respite while you can, my Lord. You can't be sure how long the calm will last these days," Dazzo said, then stepped aside, allowing Ralsi and Corwin to walk down the hall towards their temporary room.

* * *

The following days after the party were daunting. The Sword Coast armies hired a group of workers to rebuild the bridge of the Coast Way Crossing, otherwise Ralis and the Flaming Fist armies will have to take the long route to return to Baldur's Gate, passing over Boareskyr Bridge, then head east to Soubar then Triel, head south to Elturel, then west across the Fields of the Dead. Reconstruction of the Coast Way bridge was long, lasting for three months, meaning the Flaming Fist armies of the Sword Coast had to reside in Dragonspear Castle for three months to wait for the bridge to be rebuilt while deLancie, Stonehand and their armies had to make sure that the Flaming Fist armies were adequately prepared for the long trip back to Baldur's Gate, giving every one of them horses to ride, and a wagon for Ralis to ride inside, since they arrived at the coalition camp on foot. Fortunately, a few towns and cities like Triel and Iraebor were willing to send dozens of caravans containing a hefty supply of food, drink and clothing to the refugees of Baldur's Gate to help them survive the winter until they are ready to leave Baldur's Gate and rebuild their lives.

The Sword Coast armies had plenty of time to raise enough money to purchase the transportation they needed while waiting for the bridge to be reconstructed. As for Corwin and Ralis, they slept with each other every single night. They kissed and cuddled, but they never did the more deeply intimate activities, because Corwin was still a bit apprehensive about having another child. On Ches 1369 DR, everyone celebrated Ralis' 22nd birthday, because Ches is the month when Gorion adopted Ralis and first brought him to Candlekeep.

* * *

On the day when the bridge reconstruction workers returned to inform Nederlok and Duncan that reconstruction of the bridge is complete, the Flaming Fist armies decided to stay in Dragonspear one more night before departing back to Baldur's Gate, and the armies of Daggerford and Waterdeep decided to stay with them until that day comes. On that night, the 14th day of Tarsakh, 1369 DR, that is when Ralis Rutela's life started to become the worst nightmare conceivable.

Ralis was laying in a old, decrepit bad with Corwin snoring beside him. He heard a strange noise from outside the room that woke him up. He wondered what it could be, but his mind couldn't come up with any idea in particular. He paused, listening closely, trying to see if he could hear the noise again. This time he heard approaching footsteps.

"Hey. Hey, Corwin, wake up," Ralis gently nudged Corwin trying to make her wake up.

She grunted and shifted her body slightly, but she never opened her eyes, and she continued snoring. Ralis sighed and decided to check out what that noise could be. If it is a monster that snuck into the castle, it's best to check out the disturbance armed. Ralis quietly strapped on his belt with the scabbards without putting on his body armor, then he walked outside the bedroom, slowly opening the door. Outside the bedroom in the main hall, he saw Skie Silvershield facing him with fearful, blank expression on her face.

"Skie? What are you doing up so late at night?" Ralis asked her.

She didn't reply. Ralis heard footsteps again, and this time it sounds much closer than before. And to his surprise, the mysterious hooded man appeared from view behind Skie. Was he standing behind Skie this whole time? If he was, he was standing nine feet behind Skie, and Ralis never noticed him until now. The hooded man approached Skie and stopped next to her. Skie didn't run, she didn't try to attack the hooded man, either. Her face is just simply contorted with confusion and fear.

"Skie Silvershield. Born into privilege, yet driven to rebel against the destiny her father mapped out for her. She has been challenged, as you have. Has she proven worthy- or been found wanting? Let us see..." The hooded man said, then backed away a few feet from her moving his arms, casting a spell on her that caused silver and black arcane orbs of energy and dark yellow vapors to rise up around her body.

"What... What's happening? I-I don't understand..." Skie whimpered.

"Corwin! Nederlok! Duncan! Somebody help! Skie is in trouble!" Ralis shouted, hoping someone would come and help her.

The arcane energies surrounding her intensified, the magical vapors became thicker, surrounding her body and enveloping her like a caterpillar in a cocoon.

"No! NO!" Skie cried.

"Skie! NO!" Ralis rushed over to the ball of arcane energy, banging on it with his fists, trying to find a way to tear Skie out free.

Ralis drew Kondar out of its scabbard and tied to strike the arcane ball, but the blade couldn't cut it. The hooded man departed the hallway from the other side, and walls of flames appeared, preventing Ralis' escape or someone coming to his aid, but he never noticed this, he was entirely focused on freeing Skie. The arcane ball finally exploded, knocking Ralis off his feet, knocking him back ten feet from where Skie stood, and when Ralis pulled his head up, he saw that the magic energy that the hooded man cast on her had turned her into a yellowish red humanoid monster of some kind. It had sharp claws, sharp feet. The monster screeched and advanced towards Ralis.

"Skie... Skie... Wait!" Ralis exclaimed.

He rolled away in time when the monster tried to pounce on him. Ralis scrambled back up on his legs standing upright again. He still held Kondar in his right hand, but he had no intention of using it. He finally took notice of the flames boxing him in the room with this unknowable horror, then he dodged the claws of the monster, still making no attempt to attack.

"Skie! I know you're in there! Whatever that mage did to you, fight it!" Ralis exclaimed.

Ralis spent five minutes dodging the beast, trying not to attack it, in fear that he might kill Skie in the process. After five minutes passé,d Ralis realized that he is reliving what he fears the most: killing someone out of necessity, like back at the moment in Beregost when he had no choice but to kill Marl before he could kill him. Ralis began to get the feeling that this monster will never stop until he is dead. There is two ways this ends, when he is dead, or the monster is dead.

 _But... but.. Skie is in there! She might die if I kill the creature!_ Ralis reasoned to himself as he dodged the growling creature again.

 _You don't know that! Killing the creature might save her!_ A new idea came to Ralis' mind. An idea that he couldn't dismiss the possibility of. If killing this creatur is the way to save, Skie, then he must try. As the creature screeched and charged at Ralis, he thrust Kondar forward shouting:

" _FORGIVE ME, SKIE!_ "

The blade pierced the monster's chest with the sickening noise of the blade cutting into flesh, then the monster collapsed dead, and the arcane energies coalesced into a ball and disappeared into thin air, revealing Skie laying on the ground either dead or unconscious, Ralis couldn't tell because he fainted alongside her.

* * *

Ralis was awoken by a voice.

" _What the hells-?_ " The masculine voice said.

Ralis opened his eyes and groggily stood up.

"No- gods, NO!" Bence exclaimed in sheer horror.

Ralis was about to ask Bence what happened, until he looked down at the floor in front of him. He saw Skie laying on the floor, a dagger wound on her chest and blood slowly leaking out, staining her shirt.

The warmth drained form Ralis's face as soon as he saw Skie's dead body.

"... NO! OH PLEASE NO!" Ralis gasped.

Two more Flaming Fist guards appeared in the hallway and were equally shocked and horrified at what they saw. Ralis awkwardly stood up on his legs, but they felt numb, as if they were never there. Bence looked at Ralis in shock. Behind Ralis, Corwin appeared and had the same reaction as everyone else did when she saw Skie's corpse.

"What have you done, Ralis? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Bence exclaimed to him.

" _I- I don't know, Bence!_ " Ralis exclaimed, stammering. " _I heard a noise in here, and-and-and, this hooded man turned Skie into a-a-a-a monster and I... I.._."

Ralis's voice trailed off and his heart sank when he noticed that the front of his shirt is stained in blood. SKIE'S BLOOD, and he looked towards Duncan and saw his shocked expression slowly change into an expression of pure contempt.

"There's only one monster here- the one that stood on Boareskyr Bridge, a skull scorched into the stone around him," Bence begain to say.

" _Bence, no..._ " Ralis softly pleaded as he spoke, and the Flaming Fist guards surrounded him.

"... The one covered in Skie Silvershield's blood," Duncan concluded, pointing a finger at Ralis.

" _I didn't do this... I swear, I didn't,_ " Ralis softly sobbed as two Flaming Fist soldiers unbuckled his swords around his waist.

"May the gods help you. No one else will," Duncan said to Ralis, then approached him slowly, holding some rope in his hands meant to bind a person's arms. "You know what I've got to do, Ralis. In the name of the Council of Four, you are under arrest for the murder of Skie Silvershield. You will return to Baldur's Gate to be tried for your crime."

Duncan began to tie the small piece of rope around Ralis' crossed wrists.

"This isn't what it looks like. I don't know what's going on, but I didn't do this, Duncan. I don't have any evidence to prove it, but I couldn't have done this," Ralis pleaded.

Duncan sighed, shaking his head softly. It is obvious that he wishes to believe him, but in light of the current evidence, he must do what he is reluctant to do.

"I wish I could believe that," Duncan admitted.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Ralis. Please," Corwin urged him.

" _How can I cooperate? How can an innocent man possibly cooperate in a predicament like this?_ " Ralis asked her, with tears rolling down his face.

As Ralis was being escorted out of the keep by Duncan, Corwin and a dozen Flaming Fist soldiers, he took one last look at Skie's body as Flaming Fist clerics retrieved it.

The next several minutes was a pure nightmare for Ralis, including Jovan, Minsc, Neera, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jaheira. When word spread out to deLancie, Stonehand, Nederlok and everyone else in Dragonspear, everyone was in complete shock. Jovan is severely appalled about Ralis's actions, and felt unsure of whether to trust Ralis despite his claims that he is innocent, including Jahiera, Khalid and Dynaheir. Nederlok, Corwin and Duncan immediately put Ralis in his wagon, and every Flaming Fist soldier rode their horses around the wagon, to make sure Ralis does not jump out and escape into the wilderness. Skie's corpse was kept in another wagon twenty feet ahead of his own wagon, being preserved by the spells of clerics to prevent Skie's body from decomposing. From what he has heard, the clerics are unable to resurrect Skie using the necromancy spell Raise Dead, which is a huge problem. With no hope of resurrecting Skie, there is also no hope of clearing Ralis's name. It means either her soul is missing, or the weapon used to end her life prevents resurrection spells from taking effect. Minsc, Dynaheir, Corwin, Khalid and Jaheira also rode horses as well, and the tenday long journey back to Baldur's Gate.

As the days passed, Ralis fell more and more depressed and uneasy. Returning to Baldur's Gate under circumstances far darker than anyone thinks is not what anyone anticipated would happen. This is a nightmare beyond his comprehension. What should have been a moment of crowning triumph instead turned into one of the worst nightmares a hero can possibly have. This nightmarish event puts a deeply negative spin on Dazzo's meaning of "former hero of Baldur's Gate". Every day and night, Ralis looked out at the sky from the back of the wagon, and seeing the few Flaming Fist soldiers riding on horseback behind him. On the fourth day since their departure from Dragonspear Castle, Ralis recalled that he swore to Entar Silvershield that he will protect Skie no matter what. What will Entar do when he learns that he failed? That he allegedly murdered his daughter? Ralis felt the feeling that some invisible force is twisting his stomach, wringing it out like a wet towel when he thought about how angry Entar will be when he finds out what happens to his daughter.

" _I'm sorry... I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Entar, I'm-"_ Ralis rambled, nearly delirious, then he suddenly vomited.

The partially digested contents of a sandwich he recently ate splashed on the planks between his boots, and the sweet and sour stench of bile filled his nose, and the taste of his own stomach bile in his mouth didn't help either. Ralis feared that he will lose his sanity soon, dwelling on the punishments that are coming for him when they reach Baldur's Gate.

 _I thought I was free from my father's taint. I haven't had any nightmares about my Bhaalspawn heritage since before I battled Sarevok. Could it be that I am doomed to murder someone even when I am not aware of it? Does Bhaal's essence have that sort of control over me?_ Ralis thought to himself.

He couldn't deny that it could be possible. His belief that he is in control of his free will seems to be nothing more than an illusion. He is a child of Bhaal, the Lord of Murder. A piece of him resides in Ralis, so it is possible that its power has grown to the point where he commits murders without being consciously aware of it.

* * *

On the night of the twelfth day since their departure from Dragonspear, the Flaming Fist armies finally arrived in Baldur's Gate. The wagon carrying Skie's body entered the Black Dragon Gate first, two hours before everyone else, followed by Nederlok and a hundred Flaming Fists. The citizens of Baldur's Gate and the refugees that have been staying there for the past few months gathered, awaiting the hero who not only defeated Sarevok, but also stopped Caelar and her crusade. When word spread throughout the city that Ralis had indeed defeated Caelar and stopped the crusade, but he killed Entar's daughter, all the cheers almost immediately ceased, and everyone felt as if they would come down with a heart attack, especially Entar. He trusted Ralis and Duncan to watch over Skie, and they both failed him, but the blame will be placed all on Ralis's shoulders, since he is the accused murderer.

Ralis was awakened by a soldier knocking on the wagon.

"Wake up. We're here," he called.

Ralis groggily stood up on his legs, the vomit stain on the wagon's floor dry. He couldn't wipe the tears off his face because his hand have been tied by rope around the wrists for eight days. Ralis stepped out of the wagon, to be accosted by four Flaming Fist soldiers, and the soldiers escorted Ralis to the Black Dragon Gate. It took them 46 steps to get to the gate, and they opened, and hundreds of people standing along the sidewalks on both sides of the road awaited. As soon as they saw Ralis, come in, bound by rope and being escorted by a few Flaming Fist soldiers around him, with the bulk of the Flaming Fist army trailing ten feet behind him, the crowd started booing and jeering.

"You swore you would help us! We believed in you! How could you do this to the Silvershield lass? I knew you couldn't hide your ways from us forever!" Someone in the booing crowd shouted.

"None shall mourn your passing, fiend!"

"Why did you do it? Why did you turn?"

"May the gods have mercy on your wretched soul!"

"We revered an heir of Bhaal and damned ourselves in the doing!"

"Shame! Shame on you and all who called you hero!"

"You're going to hang, monster! You're going to hang!"

"Traitor! Death to the false hero!"

Some people even had the nerve to throw apples, kiwis, oranges, any small fruit or object they could get their hands on at the former hero of Baldur's Gate! Some of the objects managed to hit Ralis in the face shoulders or legs, and other fuits and harmless projectiles just landed on the road because some people have a bad throwing arm. Ralis held his head down, continuing to walk with his Flaming Fist escorts to the Flaming Fist HQ. Every turn they took on their destination, more crowds of people had more hurtful words to say to Ralis, and something to throw at him.

 _Why? What did I do to deserve this?_ Ralis sadly thought before an apple smacked him in the head- it hit him so hard his right cheek stung for seven minutes.

It took the escorts twenty minutes to get to the Flaming Fist headquarters building. In front of a building, there is a wooden platform elevated 8 1/2 feet off the ground, and on tope of the platform, Grand Duke Belt stood waiting for him. More than a dozen Flaming Fist soldiers stood in front of the platform, keeping the angry, jeering crowds of people at bay. Ralis' escorts took Ralis up the stairs to the top of the platform and the guards left when Ralis was left standing next to Belt to his right. The shouts of the crowd died down slowly, but there were a few retorts and yells here and there.

Belt had a book of written notes and said: "... We've heard the testimony of those who traveled with the Flaming Fist expedition to Dragonspear Castle. Many told of how the accused was found in Dragonspear's main hall, with Skie Silvershield dead at his feet," Belt announced to Ralis and everyone else.

A few seconds later, Bence Duncan arrived, walking up the platform and stood next to Belt to his left, his arms clasped behind his back like a soldier standing at attention.

"Corporal Bence Duncan bore witness to a disturbing incident involving the accused at Boareskyr Bridge. He is here to share his recollections," Belt informed the near silent crowd.

"Bridgefort was under siege by the crusade. The accused led an attack, driving Caelar's forces off. After that, he collapsed while crossing Boareskyr Bridge. The symbol of Bhaal, Lord of Murder, scarred itself into the stones around him," Duncan said, his tone calm and professional.

"Child of murder! Evil poisons your blood!" A commoner man among the crowd suddenly snapped.

That hurt Ralis deeply that he thought it would, he couldn't help but fidget, and the ropes binding his wrists still made his hands feel numb as if they are no longer there.

"The mark of Bhaal does not in itself prove guilt," Belt reminded everyone. "But it does cast a darker shadow of suspicion upon the accused. We cannot forget that Sarevok, another spawn of Bhaal, brought our city to the brink of war."

Ralis felt some relief when Belt said that. He is not a biased person, and he reminds everyone of every relevant detail that they might have forgotten. If evil does poison his blood, why hasn't he done anything to bring ruin to Baldur's Gate, or any other city in the Sword Coast? That commoner might want to chew on that for a while.

"Thank you for your service, Corporal. You may go," Belt nodded at Duncan.

Duncan bowed at Grand Duke Belt and stepped off the platform, walking away. Now Belt turned his attention completely to Ralis.

"As for you, Ralis... Our diviners have presented evidence of your deeds since leaving Baldur's Gate, deeds that speak to your character. Is there anything you wish to say in your defense?" Belt asked him.

Ralis opened his mouth and licked his lips. It has been eight days since he has spoken to anyone.

"I can't remember what happened at the castle, but I am certain I am no murderer. My character is my defense," Ralis said, his voice cracking a little.

"Elaborate," Belt suggested, preparing to take note in his book using a quill feather.

"Well... Before the day we left Baldur's Gate, Skie told me a secret that she made me swear never to tell anyone, not even her father. She personally told me that she joined the Flaming Fist. Knowing the dangers joining the Fist would have in the fight against the crusade, I urged her to resign, but she ignored my warnings. When I spoke to Grand Duke Silvershield before I departed, I broke my promise to Skie, I told Entar about her joining the Flaming Fist, and he claimed that he already knew about it, and that he won't stop her, and he made me swear to help Bence Duncan watch over her. Why would a would-be murder warn the future victim's father about her plans?" Ralis said.

Belt nodded, writing in his book.

"So noted," he said, and a few people in the crowd murmured among themselves.

"Is there anything more you wish to say?" Belt asked after taking the note.

Ralis thought it over for a few seconds then said "Yes".

"Elaborate."

"I was given a special mission at Dragonspear Castle by the general of the Waterdhavian army: Poison the crusaders' water supplies. I flatly refused to do the task because I hate to use cowardly, dishonorable methods to fight an enemy," Ralis explained.

Belt made another note in his book.

"So noted," he said.

Again, more murmurs arose among the crowd. Ralis never noticed, but it seems that a few people in the crowd are beginning to wonder whether or not Bhaal's blood controls Ralis's personality.

"Is there anything else you wish to say in your defense?" Belt asked.

Ralis thought it over. The idea of Thrix's game came to him, but he wasn't sure if explaining what happened in Avernus helps any, because only Corwin was there to witness it... Yes! Corwin!

"Yes, I do," Ralis nodded.

"Elaborate," Belt said with a nod, preparing to take note once again.

This evidence is more of a longshot, but it's better than nothing.

"The pursuit of Caelar took me to the wastes of Avernus. A fiend offered to let me pass freely to the tower Caelar escaped into- if I sacrificed the soul of one of my companions if I failed to answer a riddle he had for me. I offered myself up instead. Captain Schael Corwin is the witness of that event," Ralis said.

"So noted," Belt said after taking notes.

"Is there anything more you wish to say?" Belt asked.

Ralis shook his head. "No, that is all, Duke Belt, I am ready for your decision," he said, feeling a bit calm but still feeling a bit nervous.

He took comfort in the fact that people will take the time to chew on this evidence before they make their final judgment.

"We've heard much evidence today, both for your character and against it. Now we-" Belt paused there because he heard a loud commotion coming somewhere to his left. "What is that commotion?" Belt asked one of the gards near the platform.

Ralis looked to Belt's left and his heart dropped when he saw Entar Silvershield himself shoving his way past a dozen Flaming Fist soldiers, trying to prevent him from coming towards the platform. Ralis wished that someone would shoot a quarrel into his head right now, because he does not want to look into Entar's eyes, unless Skie miraculously comes to life and informs everyone of his innocence.

"Out of my way- _OUT OF MY WAY,_ you sniveling pigs!" Entar exclaimed in rage, trying to make his way past the Flaming Fist guards to get closer to the platform where Ralis and Belt stand.

The guards knew that Entar has more than half a mind to beat Ralis' skull in, and though he is believed to be the murderer, they can't let the father of the victim exact personal vengeance until a final decision is made.

"We can't let you do that, my lord-" the Flaming Fist soldier in front of Entar protested.

Entar shrugged off the Flaming Fist soldiers around him, and they parted away from him when they saw that he is not bracing himself against the soldier in front of him.

"Do you know to whom you speak?" Entar pointed a quivering finger up towards the tip of the soldier's nose. "I'll have your family on the street begging for coppers if you don't let me pass!"

The guard reluctantly stepped aside and Entar marched up the steps Ralis stayed behind Belt, and Belt positioned himself between Ralis and Entar. Belt felt confident that Entar would not hit a fellow Grand Duke.

"You do not want to do this, Entar..." Belt said calmly.

"Do not tell me what I want- I _KNOW_ what I want." Entar retorted. He side-stepped to Belt's left side so Ralis can clearly see him, and Entar can clearly see Ralis.

"You! Ralis! _MURDERER!_ " Entar pointed straight at him.

Tears welled up in Ralis's eyes and he could not find the courage to look Entar in his rage-filled bloodshot eyes at all. No one accused of murdering his daughter would. Entar already lost his son, Eddard, several years ago. Losing Skie too has obviously made him an emotional wreck.

"You killed my little girl... my Skie..." Entar began to whine slightly.

"Duke Silvershield I swear, I did not murder your daughter, please, you must believe me! Do you remember the last time we spoke? I know I failed you in keeping her safe, but I'll correct my failure in any way I can! I swear my life upon that!" Ralis exclaimed defensively between sobs.

Entar shook his head.

"You put on a good act, but I _KNOW_ the truth. It wasn't enough to slay her bodily and leave me childless? You had to destroy her own soul too?"

Belt stepped between Entar and Ralis again. "This is not the time-" he told his distraught fellow Duke.

Entar wouldn't have it. Placing both hands on Belt's shoulders, he leaned to the left side so he can stare down the young man with his death glare once again.

"Tell me what you did with it, fiend! Before they send you to the gallows, tell me, what did you do with the dagger?" Entar demanded.

"Dagger? What dagger? I know nothing of any dagger. The only weapon I had closely resembling a dagger was my two-sided dirk," Ralis said honestly.

Entar's rage-filled expression slowly turned into an expression of sadness, and he let his hands drop form Belt's shoulders, surrendering to sadness and despair.

"The priests can do nothing... She's gone forever. My Skie..." Entar started sobbing.

A Flaming Fist mercenary walked up to the platform and gestured Entar to come to him.

"Come, my lord. I'll escort you back to the estate," the mercenary offered.

Sniffling and sobbing, Entar let the mercenary take his right amr and escort him down the splatform's stars and they departed the street.

Seeing how angry and sad Entar is left a severe scar on Ralis's emotions, and ever since Entar arrived, yelling at Ralis, the crowd started shouting too, and they haven't calmed down after he left either, shouting vulgar words at Ralis, cursing him, wishing he stayed in Avernus where he belonged.

"Order! Give me order or I'll have the square cleared! Order!" Belt exclaimed.

He looked over at Ralis and saw that he is visibly distraught over Entar's outbursts.

"A father's grief is an irrational thing. Let us return to the facts. Ralis, we've heard the evidence and your own defense. Have you anything else you wish to say?" Belt asked him.

"Yes. What is this "dagger" Duke Silvershield spoke of? What happened to Skie's soul?" Ralis replied.

"Peering into the Weave, our diviners determined that Skie Silvershield's soul now languishes within an artifact called the Soultaker Dagger. All efforts to locate the dagger have amounted to naught. While her essence is imprisoned thus, Skie can never be returned to life. If we had the Soultaker, she might possibly be restored, and confirm your innocence- if you are innocent," Belt explained.

"Guilty, I say! GUILTY!" A noblewoman nearby exclaimed.

"The Flaming Fist will take custody of the prisoner until a decision is reached. Take him away," Belt announced.

Then two Flaming Fist mercenaries walked up to the platform, grabbed Ralis by both of his arms, led him down the platform and took him into the Flaming Fist headquarters building.

The two Flaming Fist mercenaries escorted Ralis to the prison cells far back into the building, taking him to the very same prison cell that Angelo Dosan threw Ralis into back when he had used the Belt of Masculinity/Femininity to change his gender so that he could sneak back into Baldur's Gate undetected when Sarevok fooled everyone in the city into believing Ralis killed the Iron Throne leaders on behalf of Amn. Proving his innocence back then was fairly easy. This time will be a lot more difficult.

The Flaming Fist mercenary woman finally cut off the ropes binding Ralis's wrists together while the other mercenary unlocked the cell door. He opened the door and Ralis walked in. When Ralis stepped inside, he turned around and saw the mercenary shut the barred door and locked it.

"I have a son who admired you," the Flaming Fist mercenary man berated Ralis. "I looked up to you too. Now, I don't know what to think about you anymore," he said, the sadness in his voice obvious, then walked away.

"When I learned what happened to you on Boareskyr Bridge, I was one of the people who believed you would be different from Sarevok. You proved me wrong," the mercenary woman said, then walked away.

Ralis stood on his feet, silent, staring out the heavily barred door into the hallway he will never go back out into until the day of his hanging. He stared out his cell for five seconds, turned to his right, facing the wall, his breathing quickening, then he started to break down emotionally, letting out an anguished scream, then he started beating his fists against the wall four times, hitting the wall as hard as he possibly could, then he stopped, and gently fell back on the wooden plank which is used as a bed, and he continued sobbing, his hands ache with severe pain from hitting the hard wall.

"Hey, shut up over there!" A nearby inmate in a nearby prison cell exclaimed.

Ralis ignored him.

 _"I didn't do it..."_ He whispered between sobs. _"I'm innocent. I didn't do it..."_

He forced his eyes open and looked at his aching hands. His knuckles are bruised from beating against the wall, and his right hand's knuckles have a couple cuts, blood is already leaking out, creating small red circles on the knuckle under his right hand's index finger, and the knuckle under the left middle finger. He had no idea how he would prove his innocence, or if it is even possible, or if he is guilty and doesn't even realize that he is.

 _No,_ Ralis thought to himself in his grief. _Just remember who you are, and you'll get through this._ He inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying not to sob anymore. _I'm Ralis Rutela... I'm Ralis Rutela..._

Two minutes later, when Ralis was on the verge of sleeping he heard footsteps approaching. He mostly ignored it, believing that it must be a guard doing his or her rounds. His eyes sprang wide open when he heard Corwin's voice.

"Ralis. How are you?"

He sat up in a sitting position and looked over at Corwin.

"I've had better days," Ralis said and sighed.

"You could have worse. Eltan and Belt moved mountains to keep you alive and out of Entar's hands," Corwin commented.

Ralis walked over to the door, wrapped his dully aching hands around the door's bars and said: "I need your help, Schael. Let me out of this cell. Let me find Skie Silvershield's killer, let me prove my innocence. Please."

Corwin shook her head. "I can't do it. I'm sorry, Ralis. There's only one way you're leaving here."

She didn't need to say much for Ralis to understand. The only way out this cell is on the day they are ready to hang him at the end of a noose or behead him, and that realization made his heart jump. Why? After everything he said in his defense, why? Is there some omnipresent force pulling the strings here that has something against him?

"I didn't kill Skie. You can't believe I'd ever do something like that," Ralis protested.

Corwin sighed. She is loyal to the Flaming Fist and Council of Four, Ralis knew that, and this predicament is throwing her loyalties and understanding of her former lover into conflict, deciding on whether to obey the wishes of the Council of Four, or help a known felon who might be innocent, which is a problem, because nothing is clear. If she helps Ralis, she will be seen as a fellow traitor, and Rohma will grow up an orphan when Audamar passes away from old age and grow up beliving her mom is an accomplice to the former hero of Baldur's Gate. But alternatively, if she doesn't help Ralis, she is denying him the chance to prove his innocence, a chance that no one else is willing to give.

"I don't know what to believe anymore," Corwin admitted. "It doesn't matter. I wish it did, but in the end, it doesn't. If it weren't this, it would have been something else. I thought we could be together, that you and Rohma and I had a future..." Corwin began to cry. "Even after everything that's happened in my life, I'm still just a stupid girl, blinded by- whatever it was I thought we had."

Ralis let his hands slide off the bars, then he rested his back against the wall, sighing.

"Love makes fools of us all," he said, to let Corwin know that she is not alone in believing that fate refuses to let them be together despite what they thought, felt and believed.

"You say you loved me. I want to believe it. I do. But I can't," Corwin tried to stop herself from crying more, but she couldn't help it, the hurt feelings she felt were too much for her to suppress. "I- I can't do this. I've got to get out of here, out of this place... Forgive me." She walked away, and Ralis could hear her sobbing fade away into the distance.

Ralis sat down on the large wooden plank and exhaled.

 _Why are the Fates so cruel to me?_ Ralis thought. _Do the gods not want to see me, a child of Bhaal, live a life of peace and tranquility?_

Ralis flexed his fingers to make the numbing pain from his knuckles ebb away, but the small cuts on his right hand still gave a mild stinging sensation.

An hour later, Ralis woke up, hearing footsteps approaching. He sprang up off the wooden plank and approached the door, waiting to see who is coming. He expected it to be Corwin, but no, it wasn't her... It was the mysterious hooded man again.

"Chains become you, child of Bhaal. The people you saved have turned on you, treating you as some nightmare made flesh. How does it feel to be trapped in a cell, after all you've done for this city?" He asked the young man in the cell.

Ralis didn't want to answer his question, all he wanted was for someone to lend him a hand.

"This isn't right. Whoever you are, you must understand. I didn't kill Skie. I could never do such a thing. This makes no sense!" Ralis said.

"Life offers no justification for the ills it inflicts on us. None know this better than I," The hooded man replied.

Ralis grunted in frustration and sat back down on the wooden plank.

"I warned you of the darkness running through your veins. Divine blood is not to be trifled with. Without control, power is naught but peril. But I am confident you will survive this. A greater destiny awaits you," the hooded man said.

Suddenly, without warning, Ralis blacked out.

* * *

Then, he had a very odd dream.

"Rise. It is time," the hooded man's voice nearbyordered, and Ralis woke up and stood up, examining his surroundings.

He is in Dragonspear Castle with the hooded man, but he didn't recall the inside of the keep being so misty. He couldn't speak to the hooded man either, as if his lips were glued shut, all he could do is follow behind the hooded man as he led him out of the misty bedroom to the hallway outside the bedroom, the same spot where Duncan and the Flaming Fist found him with Skie's corpse.

"You know what you must do. Embrace the darkness coiling within you," the hooded man said as he led Ralis out of the bedroom, away from Corwin and everyone else sleeping, and as soon as he stepped outside the bedroom, he disappeared into the mist, but Ralis kept walking out the bedroom as if something else is controlling his body.

In the next room out in the main hall where the stairs to the basement can be barely seen at the far end of the room, Ralis found Skie Silvershield, standing in the middle of the misty room, petrified, her face frozen in utter fear, and the hooded man was nowhere to be seen at first. Then he appeared next to Skie to her left, as if he were one with the mist, disappearing into it and reappearing from it.

"Take the dagger," the hooded man said, holding a strange looking dagger in both of his hands.

The dagger had a dark red ruby in the pommel.

"Kill her. Take it," the hooded man ordered.

Ralis resisted the urge to do as he commanded, he did not budge an inch. This amused the hooded man rather than upset him.

"Even now you resist. You are more powerful than I thought," the hooded man said as he gently ran the dagger's sharp end down from Skie's cheek down to her neck, causing her to whimper.

"All that I truly require is your presence," the hooded man said.

Then he plunged the dagger into Skie's chest! Ralis gasped in horror at what he just saw. He truly is innocent after all! This mysterious man is the one responsible! The hooded man let Skie fall to the floor, and he disappeared into the thick mist. Then everything in the dream faded to black.

* * *

Ralis heard the hooded man nearby talk while his eyes were closed, his consciousness slowly coming back to reality.

"Curious. Your mind is not so open to me as it once was- you resist my will. Your power grows, child of Bhaal. Awake."

At that command, Ralis was finally able to open his eyes, and he sat up on the wooden plank bed. He didn't look straight over at the hooded man standing outside the cell, he just kept his head lowered as if depressed about something. The hooded man wondered why Ralis is acting this way.

"Tell me. What did you see?" The hooded man asked him with curiosity.

Only at that moment, Ralis slowly turned his head to look at the hooded man, and he found Ralis glaring at him with immense hatred.

" _I saw your death,_ " Ralis stated ominously, but his barely calm voice is clearly marked with barely restrained anger.

"An inevitability, perhaps- but your eyes tell me a different story. What did you SEE?" The hooded man asked him again.

Ralis slowly stood up on his legs, keeping his glaring eyes focused on the hooded man as he took slow steps towards the prison cell door.

" _I saw you die, screaming for mercy in my hands. I looked down at your corpse and laughed, for my vengeance was complete."_ At that moment Ralis reached the prison cell doors but he leaned forward, his face pressing between the bars. " _You had paid for your crimes against me- paid for Skie Silvershield's murder with your own wretched life!_ _"_ Ralis exclaimed with such malice that spittle flew from his mouth.

"Despite my efforts, you remember. Impressive," the hooded man congratulated Ralis, but his voice is devoid of joy, though, and he showed Ralis the Soultaker Dagger in his hands.

"I'll show you impressive, mage. When I escape, I'm coming for you. You best beware," Ralis growled, gripping the bars so tightly that his hands slightly turned red.

"Greater powers than you have challenged me, yet I still stand," the hooded man said. "You will escape this place. We will meet again. Fear that meeting, child of Bhaal. We have so far to go together."

Then the hooded man walked away.

Ralis grunted in frustration, wanting to punch something or someone so badly.

"It was him all this time!" Ralis said to himself.

He knew all along that he was innocent, but he couldn't believe that the mysterious hooded man is the true murderer. But it doesn't matter. He eludes justice, gloating from the shadows, and only Ralis knows of his existence. He sat back down on his bed, unsure of how he could possibly escape. He decided to fall asleep for a while, and wait and see if an opportunity arises.

* * *

After two hours of sleeping, Ralis heard someone call to him. A man's gruff voice.

"Hey- hey, wake up."

Ralis groggily woke up and rubbed his eyes. He heard the sound of keys jingling, then he heard the door unlock and creak open. He turned his head and saw a man standing outside the cell, holding the door open, beckoning him to come out.

"Wake up and move your ass while you still got an ass to move," the man outside the prison cell door said.

Ralis looked at the man and did not recognize him. He wore the clothes of a Shadow Thief, he could tell. What's a member of the Shadow Thief guild doing breaking into the Flaming Fist HQ trying to spring him out of jail?

"Who are you?" Ralis asked, climbing out the bed and rolling his neck a bit because it had gone a bit stiff while he was asleep.

"Don't matter. What matters is the bag o' gold your friend Imoen gave me to get you outta here, and the four other bags o' gold she's givin' me when I pull it off," the thief said.

Ralis perked up. This man was hired by Imoen to break him out? What luck!

"Imoen sent you? Where is she?" Ralis asked.

The thief nodded his head down the only direction out of the hallway of prison cells.

"The girl's waitin' fer ya, 'long with my gold. So let's go!" The thief urged Ralis.

Without wasting time with other questions, Ralis stepped out of the prison cell and the thief led the way down the hallway of prison cells, and Ralis followed closely behind him. He had half a mind to ask the thief if he had his body armor, weapons and equipment to give to him, but Ralis instead stayed silent, choosing to believe that Imoen may have them instead.

An inmate, a human man inside the fourth prison cell to the right spotted Ralis and his Shadow Thief rescuer walk by, and the man pleaded: "Let me out! Please, I can help you!"

But Ralis and the thief chose to ignore that man. The thief is partially paid to get Ralis out of jail, no one else, and Ralis was unsure if the man deserved to be here or not. It's best not to complicate things that are already complicated. Another prisoner, another human male, this one with dark hair inside the sixth prison cell to the left saw them, but said nothing. But the prisoner across from him to the right spoke up.

"Sure, good, that's just great- run away, leave the rest of us here to rot," he said sarcastically.

Seconds afterwards, the thief and Ralis made it to the room where to the left, the stairs go up to the upper levels of the headquarters, to the room where Ralis saved Duke Eltan from being poisoned by a doppelganger working for Sarevok disguised as a healer.

Ralis expected to run into some guards here, so he was clearly surprised to see three dead guards sprawled all over the floor, their throats cut open likely by a dagger. The thief moved over to the trapdoor to the basement on the other side of the crimson rug and opened it.

"Over here. You can get out through the basement," the thief said to Ralis, holding the trapdoor lid open.

"What happened to the guards?" Ralis asked the thief, pointing at the three dead bodies.

"Them? They came down with a case of slit throat. Come on, time's a' wastin'," the thief replied.

Ralis was afraid of Eltan, Belt and Corwin discovering the bodies and believing that he killed them. This will reflect negatively on his already negative reputation. He followed the thief down into the cellar, taking small steps down the stairs at a quick pace. Down in the basement, the thief led Ralis towards the wall nine feet behind the staircase, and the thief touched the wall in various spots, searching for a button. He finally found it when Ralis stopped four feet behind him, and the wall opened like a camouflaged door, revealing a secret passage, a passage that leads straight to Baldur's Gate's sewers.

"Through here," the thief said.

Ralis whistled in admiration.

"A secret exit in the basement of the Flaming Fist's headquarters? Gods, I love this city..." he said.

"Well, the city don't love you no more. Now listen: When ya get down, there's a waterfall to the east, flows down into a lake in a cavern. You'll find Imoen near the entrance. Now go, quickly!" the thief instructed Ralis, handing him a potion of invisibility, in case he needs it.

Ralis nodded at his rescuer and entered the secret passage, carefully positioning himself on the ladder and then climbing down.

Ralis' feet touched solid ground and he found himself in the sewers of Baldur's Gate. The tunnel only went forward, extending a long way away for his eyes to discern, so he had no other choice but to head in the direction presented to him. As Ralis thought over his directions, where he is in relation to the rest of the city, he memorized the fact that the Flaming Fist HQ is several blocks north from the High House of Wonders, which means the direction this tunnel is taking him is going northeast. He needs to go directly east to find the waterfall the thief talked about. But how long will it take to get there since the Flaming Fist HQ is maybe an hour's walk or less away from Elfsong Tavern, which is close to the city gates that lead out to the Wyrm's Crossing bridge over River Chionthar? And what if he takes a wrong turn? Ralis decided not to dwell on that. All that matters is he should follow the directions given to him.

As soon as he found a tunnel that allowed him to head directly east, he took it and followed it, and he stayed on that path for what felt like 19 minutes or less. As soon as he hit a dead end, a barred gate that only allows sewage water to pass through, Ralis was forced to retrace his steps a bit and take a new route and find his way back on the tunnel that takes him directly east. He had to do this several times, finding alternate routes to bypass the barred gates to continue on the eastern tunnel path whenever a dead end wall with a small barred hole that only a small stream of sewer water and a rat or small creature can fit through, or a barred gate blocked his way. As minutes passed, Ralis steadily grew more confident in the path he chose to take, despite the foul smell of the sewer water. Five minutes later, Ralis had a gut feeling that the Flaming Fist and the city watch already know that he has escaped from prison, and is likely conducting a widespread manhunt. That possibility turned into a likelihood when he heard a sound somewhere in the tunnels to his right, the sound of someone opening up a manhole, and he thought that he heard voices, too.

"He might be down here somewhere. Spread out and find him," he heard the somewhat nearby voice say.

 _Crap. I better get out of here and fast,_ Ralis thought to himself, beginning to run. As usual, whenever he found a dead end on the tunnel going east, he tried to find an alternate route that took him around the dead end, continuing to go east. He paused for a moment to see if he heard footsteps. He definitely heard footsteps. Where, he had no idea, so he kept moving.

Three minutes later, after bypassing another dead end going east, Ralis finally found the tunnel that leads out into the waterfall. He stood 13 feet away from the end of the tunnel. He could see open space cavern walls outside the pipe ahead, and hear the sound of water falling down hitting the lake down below. He made it. After nearly an hour of running through the sewers of Baldur's Gate, he finally found the waterfall the thief mentioned. Ralis sighed in relief. Soon, he will be home free and be able to conduct the search for Skie's true murderer.

As soon as Ralis took a step towards the pipe's end, he heard someone behind him say:

"Wrong turn, Ralis."

He recognized that voice. Bence Duncan. Ralis slowly tunred around and saw Duncan standing ten feet behind him armed with a tower shield and longsword, with Schael Corwin by his side, pointing her bow at him, ready to fire an arrow at Ralis if she has to, and behind them are two Flaming Fist mercenaries and two city watch guards, wearing uniforms that have the city's coat of arms on the chest.

"Hands in the air. Get away from the opening," Corwin ordered.

Ralis slowly turned around, with his hands in the air at the same level as his head, but he did not walk towards Duncan and Corwin.

"Schael, Bence. You have to let me go. I know the truth now with out a doubt- I'm INNOCENT. You have to believe me!" Ralis pleaded.

"Innocent? HA! We were THERE, Ralis. You can't lie to us," Duncan scoffed.

"I know what I saw. You were standing over the body of Skie Silvershild. Duke Entar's daughter. His DAUGHTER," Corwin said.

"I was standing near Skie's body, yes, but where was the murder weapon? This dagger that took Skie's soul? If I'm the murderer, why haven't you found it?"

Corwin shook her head.

"You can't deceive me, Ralis. I know it was you, no one else was there but you."

Ralis frowned incredulously.

"What, so, I'm a mage who can magically hide evidence? Open your eyes, Corwin, I would not do such a thing, and i'm not capable of it either, what makes you think I am? Ah, I understand now. This is about Rohma. You're kowtowing to Silvershield because he promised a reward too big for you to refuse, enough gold to raise Rohma and retire from the Fist."

"Don't bring her into this. You won't like where that ends," Corwin warned him, pulling back further on the bowstring.

"I already don't like where we're at and where we're going. Do you seriously think so little of me? That I would stoop down to killing in cold blood? I am a child of Bhaal, I admitted that to you since the destruction of the Coast Way Crossing bridge. I could have lied to you about my heritage, but I didn't. Sarevok would lie to you. I won't."

"It has to stop. It HAS to. And that won't happen until you answer for Skie. Now get on your knees, hands behind your head. Do it," Corwin demanded.

"No," Ralis retorted.

"No?" Corwin repeated in surprise.

"I am not the killer. I know who it really was, he came to gloat at me before I escaped. It was the hooded man who spoke to me after the symbol of Bhaal was burned on Boareskyr Bridge- and in the underground river near Kanaglym- he's the one behind all this," Ralis said.

Duncan laughed. "If this hooded man you speak of is truly responsible, then why did we find you instead of him?"

Duncan had a point, Ralis quietly admitted. The hooded man is a very shady and slippery character.

"He is a mage," Ralis replied, knowing that explanation is weak. "He likely had some illusion spells cast over all of us."

"Enough!" Corwin snapped. "Hands behind your head and get down on your knees. This is your final warning."

Ralis felt that it is now or never.

"Corwin, if you shoot me, you will become a murderer yourself!" Ralis warned her.

From the shocked look on Corwin's eyes, he could see that he got to her.

"I know you believe I murdered Skie, but I know the truth of this farce, and if the gods were watching everything I've been through, they know the truth too. Stop me if you must, but I don't want Skie's real murderer to get away with this. If you want to shoot me, do it. Are you ready to live the rest of your life knowing that you killed an innocent man? If you are, you're no better than a Bhaalspawn," Ralis scolded her.

Corwin began to falter- she couldn't keep her bow aimed at Ralis forever. She eventually gave up aiming at him.

"No... I... I don't know what I should do," Corwin began to cry.

"No, Corwin, dammit! He has to die! Die in the name of Skie Silvershield! Kill him!" Duncan exclaimed.

"Damn! Run, Ralis! Run!" Corwin exclaimed as Duncan moved aside to let the archers have a clear shot at Ralis.

Ralis turned around and ran for the pipe's end just when the archers opened fire, the arrows breezed past his body on both sides, the arrow to his right nearly grazed his right arm and both arrows fell outside the pipe, falling towards the lake below. He ran for the opening and when he reached the end, he jumped out of the pipe and into the large cavernous room with a cavern lake 51 yards wide and 25 feet below him!

" _EYYYAAAAAHHH!_ " Ralis yelled as he fell.

He threw the potion of invisibility down at the lake's surface to break the tension of the water's surface otherwise landing in the lake's undisturbed surface will feel like hitting concrete and knock him unconscious.

 _SPLASH!_

He landed in the cool cavern water, sinking 8 feet below the surface. He looked down seeing the potion sinking inches below his feet, then he grabbed it and he swam upwards to the surface. He came out gasping for air and he swam 13 feet towards the rocky shore and climbed out. Feeling the cold surface of the stone floor sure felt good, but he had no time to relax. He stood up on his feet, feeling the weight of his wet clothes pressing down on him, and he headed for the pathway sloping upwards, and when he reached the top, he saw the exit across the small bridge ahead of him. He kept moving without hesitation, crossing the bridge bravely and going out the cavern's exit.

* * *

Ralis emerged from the cavern to find himself in the wilderness somewhere outside not too far from the eastern walls of Baldur's Gate, probably two miles north from River Chionthar. It is still night, the stars and moon illuminate the dark blue sky.

"Heya! Over here!" He heard a voice he hadn't heard in months call nearby.

He saw Imoen at the peripheral of his right eye and ran over to her, and embraced her in a hug.

"You made it! That's great, I was- I was scared you wouldn't," Imoen said.

"You and me both," Ralis said.

They stopped hugging each other and gave each other some space.

"I'm so sorry, Ralis. I should never have let you go to Dragonspear without me," Imoen apologized.

"No. I should have listened to you when you told me that I shouldn't get involved. You were right in so many ways."

"Well, whether I was right or wrong, we can't go back and change what already happened. We're together again now, and that's the way it's going to stay. I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again. Come on, let's get a move on. It's only a matter of time before the Flaming Fist figures out where you are," Imoen said.

Ralis followed her into the forest, feeling the cool air against his wet skin and clothes was somewhat refreshing.

"Oh, Imoen! Do you have my armor, weapons and equipment?" Ralis asked after they passed by a few trees.

"Oh yeah! I did! They're over here." Imoen led Ralis over to a boulder near a thin tree, and between the boulder and tree, Ralis found his ankheg armor, repaired and brand new, and his two bastard swords Kondar and Albruin, his two-sided dirk Avenger, and his longbow Dead Shot.

"Finally! I feel naked without my armor and swords, and longbow," Ralis said.

Imoen waited as Ralis got dressed into his ankheg body armor, then strapped his belt and sword scabbards around his waist, strapped his quiver containing his remaining void-tipped arrows and ten regular arrows behind his back, then strapped his longbow around his torso.

"Ready? Let's go!" Imoen exclaimed.

Ralis followed Imoen east through the forest until they reunited with Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jaheira at a small clearing with a large boulder close by them.

"Heya, everyone! I got 'em!" Imoen called out to them, pointing to Ralis coming up behind her.

Ralis was shocked to see that Imoen got Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jaheira to tag along, he thought that Minsc and Dynaheir would be long gone to Rashemen by now, and Khalid and Jaheira long gone out of the Sword Coast.

"Rejoice, Boo! Our friends have returned to us!" Minsc exclaimed happily, and Boo squeaked in happinenss with him. "But people have said one of our friends has been up to no good..." Minsc said, his voice a bit low, less vibrant.

"I never thought I'd see thee again, Ralis. Knowing what I know, I would have preferred it that way. Thou art lucky to have a supporter as passionate as Imoen. Were it not for her, neither I nor Minsc would deign to look upon thee, never mind assist thee in escaping justice," Dynaheir said.

Ralis was about to clarify the situation, but Jaheira spoke up.

"So Imoen's hireling told it true. You have have escaped the Fist and Silvershield's justice- for the moment. I promised Gorion to watch over and protect you. Your actions make me question that promise," Jaheira said.

"Do not th-think I'm pleased to be here, Ralis. What I do, I do for Gorion and Imoen. If you did indeed murder Skie Silvershield, you will answer for it," Khalid warned Ralis.

"Guys, I did not murder Skie Silvershield! The hooded man did it! Why? I don't know yet, but I plan on finding him and bringing him back to Baldur's Gate dead or alive with the Soultaker dagger so the clerics can resurrect Skie," Ralis said.

"Could we talk about this someplace, you know- far away from here?" Imoen whispered, afraid that someone might be watching.

Ralis frowned incredulously at Imoen.

"Huh? You go to all the effort to have me sprung from the the Fist's headquarters, and you don't include transportation in the plan? Bad form, Imoen. Bad form," he placed his hands on his waist and shook his head in disappointment.

"You should not make light of the effort Imoen has made on your behalf," Jaheira said.

Imoen looked at Ralis, then Jaheira, then back at Ralis, looking very confused.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You think I got you out? No, no, no. A message came from the Ducal Palace, telling me when and where to meet you. I thought it was some scheme of yours," she corrected him.

Ralis frowned. Who the hell in the Ducal Palace would arrange his escape? Something isn't right.

"Most strange. And not a little disturbing," Ralis said, getting the feeling that someone is manipulating events.

"Less disturbing than being caught and imprisoned once again though, no?" Dynaheir asked Ralis.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"We can figure this out later. For now, we need to just keep moving. Forward!" Imoen exclaimed, and the group headed south.

When they reached the road between Wyrm's Crossing bridge and Baldur's Gate, they crossed the bridge after Ralis drank his potion of invisibility so that no Flaming Fist soldier on Wyrm's Crossing would see him. Soon they crossed over River Chionthar and continued heading south, since going north towards Daggerford and Waterdeep is not a good idea since Stonehand and deLancie and every citizen in their respective cities heard about what Ralis supposedly did to Skie, but going south towards Amn and Tethyr is more ideal.

* * *

Three miles later, they came to a stop in the wilderness.

"I'm pretty sure the Flaming Fist isn't on our trail. Can we take a break, just for a minute?" Imoen asked.

"I th-th-think we could all use a... a rest," Khalid admitted.

And so the group paused, Sitting down on the soft grass, resting their aching feet. If they had transportation, this would be easy. A few seconds after they got relaxed, something strange happened. A misty cloud slowly appeared around them. And for some reason, by inhaling the mist, Ralis felt... zoned out. Tired. Everyone felt the same way.

"Hey, do you feel a little... off?" Imoen asked Ralis.

The mist grew thicker. Stronger. And it stung their eyes. Out of view from Ralis and the group, a shadowy figure sitting on a tree branch armed with a blowpipe took aim at Dynaheir and blew a dart of sleeping. The dart hit Dynaheir on the neck and she immediately fainted.

"What the?!" Ralis gasped.

"Ambush!" Jaheira exclaimed.

Shadowy figures danced all over the mist, disappearing and reappearing like ghosts in the night.

They struck without warning attacking with the intent to capture, not kill. Soon Ralis, Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc and Dynaheir were knocked unconsious by the shadowy figures. Who are they? And what do they want with the child of Bhaal and his companions? Are they allied with the hooded man or someone else? Time will provide the answers, if Ralis and his allies live long enough to learn them.

* * *

 **To be continued in:**

 **Baldur's Gate 2 Shadows of Amn Enhanced Edition Novelization**

 **Based on "Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition"**


End file.
